Second Life

We help organisations kickstart circular plastic supply chains that clean oceans.

The world’s first Verra certified ocean plastic recovery and recycling project. Supported by global brands, engaged in local impact.
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2,389,000+ kgs

Over 2,389,000 kgs of ocean-bound plastic recovered and recycled since January 2020

1st Verra project

The world’s first Verra-certified plastic recovery and recycling project

100+Collectors

Over 100 informal collectors registered under the Second Life program since we’ve started

Start engaging in 3 easy steps

Calculate

We help you calculate your brand’s plastic footprint based on standardised, global corporate plastic frameworks.

Offset

We help recover and recycle the equivalent of every kilogram of plastic your organisation produces, in partnership with local communities.

Communicate

We provide you the tools and support to communicate on your impact and action on plastic sustainability to your consumers.

Second Life’s Founding Story

We’re a social enterprise committed to giving a “Second Life” to plastic waste.

By working in partnership with local collectors and recycling initiatives, we believe that companies can be part of the solution to support circular plastic supply chains and generate new sources of incomes for vulnerable communities.

Launched in 2020 by Tristan Lecomte, in partnership with French cosmetics brand Caudalie, Second Life is a part of the PUR Projet group (www.purprojet.com), which is specialized in the development of ecosystem regeneration projects in over 40 countries worldwide.

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founding story-3

Our methodology for recycling

Recover

Incentivise the recovery and transportation of ocean and ocean bound waste by local communities and informal collectors.

Recycle

Identify and invest in local recycling initiatives to process all types of recovered waste, including non-recyclable plastics.

Reinforce

Engaging beyond the supply chain with community engagement, stakeholder consultation, tracing and monitoring activities.

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Start taking leadership on plastic sustainability

Support vulnerable communities

We work in priority with the most vulnerable members of the community, where waste collection and recycling is a valuable source of income

Regenerate biodiversity ecosystems

We focus our work on islands and ocean biodiversity hotspots where plastic waste management is underdeveloped.

Innovative solutions for 100% circularity

We ensure all collected ocean plastic finds its way back into the supply chain, and invest in innovative solutions for non-recyclables.

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Offset your personal plastic footprint

Looking for a way to engage as an individual consumer? Just like carbon, we each have a plastic footprint. By engaging in plastic offsetting activities, now you can start to offset your annual plastic footprint, and remove as much plastic as you produce every year.

Second Life supports ocean plastic recovery and recycling operations in biodiversity hotspots and vulnerable communities around the world, so you can be sure every dollar you invest goes to where it’s needed the most.

Start offsetting your personal footprint

Understanding the role of plastic credits

Just like carbon credits, plastic credits are a funding mechanism that enable companies to engage in plastic sustainability in a direct and scalable way.

1 credit = 1 ton

of additional plastic recovered or recycled from the ecosystem that would not have been otherwise

Whilst reducing, reusing and replacing plastic within the supply chain is always the first step towards sustainability, we understand companies are now looking for ways to take the final step to engage beyond the value chain.

Your investment brings financing to recovery and recycling operations that have the highest environmental and social impact around the world, and plastic credits are an integral part of corporate engagement guidelines for plastic sustainability.

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A team of recycling experts

Start taking leadership on plastic sustainability

Tristan Lecomte
Founder

Nik Supatravanij
Program Manager




Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yearly, up to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans. It escapes from landfill sites, floats down our drains, ends up in rivers and makes its way into our oceans.

There are now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean and 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, with a total estimated 150 million tons of plastic currently in our oceans. Every day around 8 million new pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans.

80% of the plastics in the ocean comes from land-based activities. It is trash blown from the streets, trash cans, or landfills into rivers, sewers, or directly into the ocean.

– For every ton of plastic that is recycled, 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space is saved. Recycling plastic also reduces the amount of non-renewable energy used in the plastic-making process, as creating new items from existing plastic uses significantly less energy than creating plastics from raw materials.

– Recycling reduces the pollution that can come from the chemicals used to make these bottles. It also helps cut down on the amount of trash thrown into landfills, so our garbage doesn’t take up as much space. Recycling also creates jobs for people who collect recyclable materials and work at places that turn them into new materials.

The most commonly recycled plastics are:

– Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – water bottles and plastic trays

– High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) – milk cartons and shampoo bottles

– Polypropylene (PP) – margarine tubs and ready-meal trays

– Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) – plumbing and piping

– Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) – food and shopping bags

– Polystyrene (PS) – plastic cutlery

Every time plastic is recycled, the polymer chain grows shorter, so its quality decreases. The same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2-3 times before its quality decreases to the point where it can no longer be used.

Ocean Bound Plastic is Abandoned Plastic Waste of all sizes located within the range

of 50 km from the shore in communities or areas where waste management is inexistent or very inefficient.

Plastic bottles can be converted into many different products. Just think of all of the plastic toys, tools, electronic gadgets, and other plastic items in your own home.

Plastic that is collected from your homes, businesses and local recycling centers is sent to Material Recovery Facilities (MRF), which separates plastic and non-plastic, and/or a Plastic Recovery Facilities (PRF), which sorts plastic by type. These facilities use sorting equipment such as an optical sorter, or manual sorting, to distinguish between the different types of plastics. The plastic then goes to a reprocessor where it gets washed, shredded and sorted further. The plastic is then melted and extruded into new recycled plastic pellets. These pellets are sold on to producers to make new products.

– Reduce your own plastic waste

– Reuse – Bring your own reusable shopping bags or water bottles

– Refuse – Refuse plastic (i.e. straws, plastic bags, beverage tops)

– Remove – Pick up trash in your neighborhood and when visiting parks and beaches.

– Recycle – Recycle the plastics you use and no longer need.