Thu 1 Apr 2021 01.30 EDT
Last modified on Thu 1 Apr 2021 23.20 EDT
For years, plastic caught by fishing communities on the Kollam coast in Indiaâs southern state of Kerala was thrown back into the water, damaging aquatic ecosystems and killing fish.
But fishers are spearheading an innovative initiative to clean up the ocean â along with their daily hauls of fish, they pull in and collect the waste that gets enmeshed in their nets.
Bottles, ropes, toys, shoes, discarded fishing nets and polythene bags are sorted, washed, shredded, before being recycled into material added to asphalt to help to build local roads.
In 2017, the Keralan governmentâs harbour engineering department (HED) launched its