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Recycle plastic to reduce ocean pollution: a Hong Kong workshop shows how to turn waste into flowerpots and coasters

The founder of Ocean Material talks about why he was inspired to set up the Hong Kong-based social enterprise that seeks to reduce ocean pollution

Ocean Material holds workshops on turning waste into pots and coasters to raise awareness of the impact of plastic pollution on the environment and human health

Reading Time:2 minutes

Ocean Material founder Toni Kienberger with his family on Lantau Island’s Shui Hau Wan Beach. Photo: Ocean Material

Published: 11:15am, 13 Sep 2022Updated: 12:49pm, 13 Sep 2022

Toni Kienberger has always had a strong connection with the ocean. A keen surfer, diver and kite surfer, he spends much of his free time on Hong Kong’s coastline “enjoying the diverse marine environment”.

But after several years, Kienberger, who was born in Germany but has called Hong Kong home for 13 years, started to notice that things were not so great in the great outdoors.

“I saw how marine habitats were being impacted by human activities,” he says. “First, it was the quantity of waste drifting back to the coastline, after being dumped offshore. Then it was the quantity of plastic within the ocean itself, and how it not only affected fishing populations, but also the people who depended on it for their livelihood.”

On travels across Asia, he also noticed some countries’ inability to deal with the scale of the problem because of a lack of infrastructure.

A volunteer checks plastic waste at a beach in Peukan Bada, Indonesia’s Aceh province in 2022. Photo: AFP

“Many Asian countries are a network of islands with interconnected waterways that make controlling waste entering them – and ultimately our food chain – extremely difficult,” Kienberger says.

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