Simon Bernard, co-founder of the Plastic Odyssey expedition. “To save the ocean, you have to turn off the faucet on the coast”

Simon Bernard, 31, is a merchant marine officer and co-founder of Plastic Odyssey, a research and awareness mission against plastic pollution. Leaving Marseille on October 1, 2022 in his “laboratory ship”, the young man set himself the task of traveling around the world for three years to convince local entrepreneurs to invest in recycling. A total of 30 stops are planned across three continents, including Africa, South America and Asia. After passing through Lebanon and Egypt, the captain and his crew of about twenty people stopped at the Tunisian port of Bizerte last December. We had met him.

Simon learned about the urgency of recycling during a trip to Senegal in 2016. “I stopped in Dakar, in one of the most polluted bays of the city (Hann’s Bay, editor’s note) I said to myself: “There is still something to do, there is plastic everywhere,” he explained to us. With great ingenuity, we recycle almost everything in Senegal: aluminum, iron, but not much plastic. So it started with this observation, saying to ourselves, “If we manage to recycle it, make something useful out of it, we’ll kill two birds with one stone, let people live off of it and not let it end up with a stone.” ocean.”

To do this, the young man equipped his boat with exhibition cars for entrepreneurs who want to invest. At the back there is a whole recycling scheme: a shredder that turns the plastic into shavings, a washing tank, a centrifuge and an extruder to dry and turn these waste particles into tiles, slabs, boards and even furniture. . Cars low tech and “open source,” meaning whose software is not only submitted to investors but also freely available on the Internet. “The cars in France are extremely high-tech, so we’re really looking for the simplest, strongest and cheapest possible systems to adapt them to Africa, Asia, South America,” the co-founder continues.

Open source machines

The locals are also introduced to another machine, a pyrolysis machine, which makes it possible to turn plastic into fuel. “With one kilogram of plastic, we take it, which is not recyclable, we can make one liter of diesel and gasoline, and this allows us to provide energy to the entire processing plant,” he enthuses. Because the young man, knowing about the pollution of the ships in the sea, wants to remain consistent. “Unpolluting is mission impossible,” he admits. Simon Bernard has thus equipped his ship (a former oceanographic base) with environmentally responsible technologies and solutions: water purification or the reduction of disposable cups.

Thanks to its incubation program, Plastic Odyssey promises a virtuous system to combat pollution. Because, says Simon Bernard, “It’s no longer about big NGOs and communities having a monopoly on recycling.” Yes, everyone has to play a part in saving the planet.

For more information https://plasticodyssey.org/

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