Plastic Offset Program - Starboard Blue

We all know that plastic doesn’t belong in nature, so we made it our business to start removing it.

A Pioneer in Plastic Retrieval

The Plastic Offset Program Story

During the 2000 Formula Windsurfing World Championship in Thailand, riders catapulted as their fins hit floating plastic bags. Following this the Starboard crew began running regular beach cleans at the local test centre.

After 16 years of collections Starboard launched the official Plastic Offset Program in 2017. The program now supports 4 teams of almost 200 collectors in Thailand in Myanmar and has collected over 900,000 KG of plastic from the tidelines!

2015

Starboard organised their first major beach clean up in Dawei, Myanmar with 400 people. This one clean up demonstrated how beach cleans could be a force for good within a community. An opportunity to create jobs and empower people to restore and protect their environment.

2017

In October 2017 Starboard Blue launched the first initiative aiming to offset a companies plastic usage.The Plastic Offset Program began a little closer to home with 1 team of 5 collecting plastic from beaches in Pattaya, Thailand.

2018

Starboard Blue calculated its first Plastic Footprint with the Ocean Recovery Alliance. Disclosing plastic use and collecting 1.1kg of plastic per board – In 2018, 1.1kg was the average amount of ocean plastic that each person on earth was responsible for.

In February 2018 Starboard Blue met with the chief of UNEP and Major of Yangon to discuss single use plastic pollution in Myanmar.

2020

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, It became clear that POP was about more cleaning beaches. It was an essential vessel for helping communitites in need. Providing a reliable source of income to those forced out of employment by the shut down of the tourism industry.

In 2020 POP hit 100,000 KG!

2021

As the need for the program continued to grow, The Plastic Offset Program started up its second Thailand Chapter. In 2021 The Plastic Offset Program became the first organisation approached by VERRA to become verified under their Plastic Waste Reduction Standard.

2022

Coastal villages in Myanmar were facing high levels of unemployment, school closures and infrastructure challenges (including waste management). In response to this the third official POP chapter was launched in Myanmar.

2023

The success of the first Myanmar chapter quickly led to the launch of a second. Both focusing not only on picking up plastic but on providing monthly environmental education sessions and livelihood training for members of the community.

2024

As of June 2024 the Plastic Offset Program has collected more than 900,000 KG of plastic waste from the shorelines of Thailand and Myanmar. It has provided eco education to over 1500 students, more than 50 hours of livelihoods training and this year the program will recieve the first issuance of verified plastic credits.