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Recycling marine debris : An inquiry into the discrepancy inherent in posing recycling marine debris for new consumer wear as a solution to the problem of marine debris pollution

Jurgens, M.Z. (2016) Recycling marine debris : An inquiry into the discrepancy inherent in posing recycling marine debris for new consumer wear as a solution to the problem of marine debris pollution.

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Abstract:Marine debris poses a profound threat to the health of the marine environment. A proposed solution to the problem this threat creates is the recycling of collected marine debris, specifically fish nets, into new shoes by sportswear brand Adidas and creative thinking organisation Parley for the Oceans. Seeing that marine debris is to a large degree the result of improper management of waste that follows from consumption, an incongruity arises in posing the solution to be one based on consumption. I explore the complexity of the situation created by collecting marine debris and giving it a new purpose as consumer wear. To that end I analyse the process of recycling marine debris, the network that arises from this process, and to what extent the solution falls in line with conditions of consumer society and is therefore problematic as a solution. I argue that with the marine debris shoe Adidas and Parley for the Oceans provide a solution in so far that marine debris is removed from the marine environment and awareness of the issue is created through exposure. However, largely adhering to and relying on the conditions of consumer society undermines the solution’s own success.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:08 philosophy, 43 environmental science
Programme:Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society MSc (60024)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71246
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