Solutions for turning plastic waste into a resource

Dear Difteur-ses,

After several months of effort and strengthened collaboration with our local partners, the equipment for shredding used fishing traps is well and truly in place in Kerkennah. It's now the turn of local players to ensure the project continues.

This project is part of a broader dynamic to combat plastic pollution in the Mediterranean, at a time when international negotiations are making slow progress on setting up a binding global treaty. Earthwake Association remains mobilized to support other concrete initiatives on the ground!

A big thank you for your support!

Dear difters,

As we begin 2025, we'd like to send you our best wishes and thank you for your unwavering support, which enabled Earthwake to continue its mission in 2024. Thanks to you, we have consolidated our actions and begun promising initiatives in the fight against plastic pollution.

On the island of Kerkennah in Tunisia, the equipment delivered in 2024 will help strengthen the structuring of abandoned plastic management, particularly for the collection and packaging of fishing traps.These efforts, carried out in collaboration with the island's municipality and the UTAIM association, represent an essential step towards sustainable preservation of marine ecosystems. We look forward to the shredding center getting up and running!

In 2025, we have ambitions to expand our impact. We are actively seeking new projects and partnerships on an international scale to continue our fight against plastic pollution. These new collaborations will enrich our global mission, strengthening our commitment to vulnerable communities and ecosystems.

With gratitude and determination for 2025,

The Earthwake team

Dear difers,

🌍 As our project on Kerkennah Island gets underway, international negotiations on plastic pollution are taking a decisive turn.

From November 25 to December 1, 2024, 175 countries are meeting in Busan, South Korea, to finalize a legally binding global treaty against plastic pollution. These discussions underscore the urgent need for action in the face of annual plastic production that could reach 1 billion tons by 2060, exacerbating the environmental, health and climate crises.

🎣 This global context reinforces the relevance of our local actions, like in Kerkennah, where the fight against plastic pollution is taking on a concrete dimension thanks to your contributions.

Dear difters,

We've just landed in Paris following a few days' mission on the ground in Kerkennah, which enabled us to monitor the installation of equipment and strengthen our collaboration with local players, to launch sustainable plastic waste management on the island!

 🎣 The Project
Thanks to the support of Dift and our various patrons, Earthwake Association was able to send essential equipment for plastic waste management on the island. This equipment includes aplastic injection shredder, a sorting table, as well as a big-bag packaging device to optimize the storage and transport of shredded plastic. This equipment will enable us to structure the shredding center on the island and launch an initiative to collect creels, abandoned both at sea and on the coast.

 🚀 The Advances
This trip enabled us to gain a better understanding of the specific challenges linked to plastic pollution on the island of Kerkennah, while strengthening our links with local players. Thanks to the equipment delivered, the next step is to organize the collection and start the crushing of the traps. The shredder will be operational in the next few days. A team of 35 municipal agents will be mobilized to collect the abandoned creels on Kerkennah Island.

💙 Thank you for your unwavering support in this mission, which aims to offer Kerkennah Island a more sustainable future and preserve its unique ecosystems! 💙

Dear Captain Cause patrons,

After some administrative difficulties, we are delighted to announce that the plastic shredder is on its way to Kerkennah. Ordered from a Tunisian supplier to limit the carbon costs associated with transport, it should be installed during October. 
The installation of the shredder, as well as a sorting table, will enable used plastic traps from fishing activities to be processed more efficiently, helping to preserve local ecosystems and improve the quality of life of local residents.

🌊 This project, which marks an essential step towards more responsible plastic waste management on this Tunisian island, would not be possible without your support. Together, we are moving towards a cleaner future for Kerkennah. 

💙 Thank you so much for your commitment to us! 💙

We told you about it last time: we've received a parcel from Kerkennah! Indeed, the fishermen of this Tunisian island, often unaware of the impact of plastic pollution on marine biodiversity, abandon their plastic traps at the bottom of the Mediterranean. 
The objective? To ensure that our Chrysalis is compatible with this source of plastic, and to organize upstream collection. Over the last few weeks, our teams have been crushing the traps.

While we're waiting for the Chrysalis to be installed on Kerkennah Island, we're continuing our tests on fishing traps. In fact, a parcel containing samples of plastic waste from Tunisia should soon be arriving in our workshop. The aim? To encourage fishermen to take their fishing nets out of the Mediterranean and recycle them into energy that can be used directly in their boats. 

Accompanied by our partner SMILO, part of the Earthwake team was in Tunisia last June to follow the progress of the Plast'île project. One of the objectives of this project is the installation of a Chrysalis on Kerkennah Island to recycle plastic fishing traps abandoned at sea.

The program for the trip included a visit to the potential site for the machine in partnership, a tour of the ANGED shredding site, an outing at sea with fishermen's representatives, a meeting with the Island Committee and participation in a beach clean-up event at Ramla.

The installation of a Chrysalis on the Kerkennah islands in Tunisia is intended to find solutions to the problem of abandoning plastic fishing traps at sea. Indeed, fishing is at the heart of island life in Kerkennah: more than two-thirds of the population currently earn their living from marine activities. There are an estimated 2,500 fishermen on the island.
Thanks to your support, we have carried out pyrolysis tests on plastic fishing traps that have been in the Mediterranean. These tests were very conclusive, demonstrating the compatibility of this waste with our Chrysalis equipment.
Thank you again for your mobilization, particularly as part of the #UnCadeauPourLaTerre operation.

We want to install a Chrysalis in Kerkennah, Tunisia, to convert plastic fishing traps abandoned at sea into energy that can be used directly by fishing boats. Thanks to your support, we are making progress on manufacturing the equipment in our Vaucluse workshop. The Chrysalis will comprise two containers: one for pyrolysis of plastic waste that is difficult to recycle, and one for fuel storage and reclamation.