Kia offering its EV3 with the 'world's first' accessory made using reclaimed ocean plastic

RahulNagaraj · 18th October 2024, 15:27

Kia has introduced what is said to be the world's first car accessory made using plastic collected from the ocean. It will be offered as a genuine Kia accessory on its affordable EV3 electric model.

The South Korean carmaker joined hands with 'The Ocean Cleanup' in 2022 to clean the world's oceans. With support from the carmaker, the company is said to have removed one million pounds (4.53 lakh kg) of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).

Kia offering its EV3 with the 'world's first' accessory made using reclaimed ocean plastic-trunkliner.jpg

Now, Kia is finding better ways to make use of the reclaimed plastic. As part of its efforts, the carmaker recently introduced the first-ever car accessory made using plastic extracted from the GPGP. It is a limited-edition trunk liner designed for the Kia EV3, which will be available in select markets - in line with the EV3 rollout plans.

Kia claims that the trunk liner is made from 40% reclaimed ocean plastic and is just as durable and functional as the conventional accessory. The special trunk liner comes with a wave design, which as per Kia, is reminiscent of "the flow of trash into a collecting area." Also, the trunk liner comes with a QR code, which provides information about the product's development and Kia's partnership with The Ocean Cleanup.

Source: Electrek

Link to Team-BHP news

omranga98 · 18th October 2024, 20:02

As a private label manufacturer for a lot of global accessories brand, my company did a bit of research on ocean sourced recycled plastic and whether it is a viable method to create products such as handbags, wallets and more.

Some interesting facts from our research:

1) Some estimates suggest that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the oceans, by weight, than fish. So is a really important problem to fix.

2) This process is more of a PR move to show how green your brand is rather than actually making a substaintial difference to the environment.

3) The carbon footprint created to sail out to the great pacific ocean patch, recovering the plastics, sailing back, shipping this waste to processing plants which would break this down to plastic chips which in turn would be ship to other material manufacturers (many a times, across the globe) and then turning it into an H&M fast fashion T-shirt which would be thrown and replaced in 6-8 months (Avg US teen buy about 18 pcs of clothing a year) and the cycle repeats.

4) Material made of ocean sourced plastic is generally 3x the price, which makes the end product pricy, hence making it a luxury choice only attainable by the richer folks.

5) If we really want to reduce ocean plastics, we simply have to bring down the consumption of it. We will always need plastic but not everything needs plastic.
For eg.
A leather wallet if produced the right manner can last years compared to a PU (plastic) wallet which a lot of times are advertised as Vegan leather.

18th October 2024, 15:27	#1
RahulNagaraj Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,678 Thanked: 25,307 Times View My Garage	Kia offering its EV3 with the 'world's first' accessory made using reclaimed ocean plastic Kia has introduced what is said to be the world's first car accessory made using plastic collected from the ocean. It will be offered as a genuine Kia accessory on its affordable EV3 electric model. The South Korean carmaker joined hands with 'The Ocean Cleanup' in 2022 to clean the world's oceans. With support from the carmaker, the company is said to have removed one million pounds (4.53 lakh kg) of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). Now, Kia is finding better ways to make use of the reclaimed plastic. As part of its efforts, the carmaker recently introduced the first-ever car accessory made using plastic extracted from the GPGP. It is a limited-edition trunk liner designed for the Kia EV3, which will be available in select markets - in line with the EV3 rollout plans. Kia claims that the trunk liner is made from 40% reclaimed ocean plastic and is just as durable and functional as the conventional accessory. The special trunk liner comes with a wave design, which as per Kia, is reminiscent of "the flow of trash into a collecting area." Also, the trunk liner comes with a QR code, which provides information about the product's development and Kia's partnership with The Ocean Cleanup. Source: Electrek Link to Team-BHP news Last edited by RahulNagaraj : 18th October 2024 at 15:30.
	(15) Thanks

18th October 2024, 20:02	#2
omranga98 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Kolkata Posts: 177 Thanked: 2,152 Times	Re: Kia offering its EV3 with the 'world's first' accessory made using reclaimed ocean plastic As a private label manufacturer for a lot of global accessories brand, my company did a bit of research on ocean sourced recycled plastic and whether it is a viable method to create products such as handbags, wallets and more. Some interesting facts from our research: 1) Some estimates suggest that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the oceans, by weight, than fish. So is a really important problem to fix. 2) This process is more of a PR move to show how green your brand is rather than actually making a substaintial difference to the environment. 3) The carbon footprint created to sail out to the great pacific ocean patch, recovering the plastics, sailing back, shipping this waste to processing plants which would break this down to plastic chips which in turn would be ship to other material manufacturers (many a times, across the globe) and then turning it into an H&M fast fashion T-shirt which would be thrown and replaced in 6-8 months (Avg US teen buy about 18 pcs of clothing a year) and the cycle repeats. 4) Material made of ocean sourced plastic is generally 3x the price, which makes the end product pricy, hence making it a luxury choice only attainable by the richer folks. 5) If we really want to reduce ocean plastics, we simply have to bring down the consumption of it. We will always need plastic but not everything needs plastic. For eg. A leather wallet if produced the right manner can last years compared to a PU (plastic) wallet which a lot of times are advertised as Vegan leather.
	(22) Thanks