From France’s Atlantic coast to the Spanish Mediterranean, marine industries are finding new ways to turn their waste into treasure. Discarded oyster shells and abandoned fishing nets, once considered worthless, are now being repurposed into eco-friendly building materials and street furniture through innovative upcycling projects.
In this episode of Ocean, we meet French researchers at the University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour, who have developed eco-friendly concrete made from crushed seashells instead of traditional sand and gravel, combined with clinker-free cement that emits 75% less CO₂ than conventional construction cements.
We also visit Spain’s Mediterranean coast, where the EU-supported initiative Gravity Wave partners with local fishers to collect and recycle discarded nets that would otherwise end up in landfills or drift at sea.
Upcycling initiatives are leading the way, turning marine litter into new resources and addressing a key question: How can the blue economy manage its own waste?
OCEAN is a Euronews magazine in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE). It features monthly 8-minute videos, where we discover fascinating projects and developments related to the ocean and coastal communities.
Broadcast since 2019, OCEAN features episodes on marine protected areas, small-scale fisheries, ocean energy, aquaculture, IUU fishing, sustainable fisheries and much more. Missed one? Check them out on the Euronews website! You will also find some nice extras about these topics.
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