About Second life

We’re here to make the global circular plastic supply chain a reality

Second Life’s circular plastic supply chain founding story

Second Life was founded in January 2020 by Tristan Lecomte, social entrepreneur and founder of PUR Projet, in partnership with the pioneering support of Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas, founders of the French Cosmetics brand Caudalie.

Mathilde and Bertrand wanted to take responsibility for the 600 tons of plastics they use yearly for Caudalie products. Already engaged with PUR Projet on reforestation projects worldwide – with over 7 million trees planted – and on various initiatives to reduce packaging and impact on the environment, Caudalie and PUR Projet decided to collaborate to create Second Life, a social enterprise dedicated to developing circular plastic waste supply chains, with a focus on ocean plastics in particular.

Mathilde and Bertrand’s ambition is that now all companies start to engage in the global drive towards plastic sustainability, and help realise the goal of 100% circular plastic supply chains.

Our 2025 Goal

To recover and recycle ocean plastic in all islands and coastal areas of Thailand

We support projects that have the highest impact, for plastic and for people

As the first Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Project to be certified in the world, our methodology is based on standardised accounting principles of baseline and additionality. This rigorous and independently-audited accounting system ensures that each credit invested goes to recovering and recycling one ton of plastic waste, somewhere in the world, that wouldn’t have been otherwise.

Second Life also invests for maximum social impact. By engaging in geographies where waste infrastructure is underdeveloped, where plastic pollution heavily impacts the local biodiversity, or where the local community is vulnerable and marginalised, we believe that supporting circular plastic supply chains can do good not only for the environment, but for people too.

Our Team

Start taking leadership on plastic sustainability

Tristan Lecomte
Founder

Nik Supatravanij
Program Manager

Corporate Partners

Second Life is sponsored and funded by our corporate partners, on behalf of whom we operate our plastic waste recovery and recycling operations worldwide.

Project Partners

Second Life partners with various operational partners such as regional recyclers, regional aggregators and plastic banks to recover and recycle plastic waste.

Institutional Partners and Associates

Second Life partners and collaborates with institutional partners to expand our network of operators, connect with local communities, and develop our media communications.

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.