I was surfing through YouTube yesterday, looking up Minecraft tutorials (kidding) and watching the new Toy Story trailer (not kidding) when I was shown an ad for a new, socially-driven, privately owned corporation called 4Ocean. Founded by professional surfers, Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper, 4Ocean is focused on removing plastic sea waste from the ocean and making a profit off the recycling of that waste; they have thus created a macro market for extracting trashing from the ocean. What is most interesting about 4Ocean therefore, is the way in which its novelty and modernity confront its more classical, socially focused principles to sublimate into the ideal form of corporation that I speak heavily about in this blog: a socially focused organization with a profit motive to promote scaling and a desire to educate other people and corporations through its innovation. And this is not speculation on my part, because 4Ocean actually spells out that this is what they are up to.
Optimizing Technology - We utilize the latest technology to prevent, intercept, and remove trash from the ocean and coastlines.
Creating Jobs- We have full-time captains and crews that are cleaning the ocean and coastlines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Education & Awareness- We strive to educate individuals, corporations, and governments on the impact that plastic has on the ocean. We host cleanups all over the world, both above and below the water, to raise awareness and change behavior.
New Global Economies- By giving ocean plastic a value, we are creating a new economy for the removal of trash.
New Global Economies- By giving ocean plastic a value, we are creating a new economy for the removal of trash.
Evidently, 4Ocean is more than aware of the social and economic niche they are carving out for themselves, and further evidence the success of disruptive privately-owned corporations with a cause, that really give publicly traded companies a run for their money. Because despite 4Ocean's size, "in less than 2 years, 4ocean has removed 4,491,214 pounds of trash from the ocean and coastlines" (4Ocean). Now this is a tiny fraction of the estimated 275 million tons of trash out in the ocean right now, but this can actually attract larger companies to start doing their part to extract and refine what was once thought to be a purposeless material. And while 4Ocean uses their collected materials to manufacture and design bracelets to support their operations, I can see the market for recycled plastic waste going the route of fast prototyping materials. Imagine using a 3D printer fueled entirely by plastic waste, ala Back to the Future, now that is the kind of world I want to live in.
What do you think of 4Ocean's business plan? See any other product offerings from recycled plastic waste? Leave your answers in the comments below or email austin-regalado@uchicago.edu to tell me what you think!
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