There is way too much plastic in our oceans - millions of tons. It kills, maims and sickens marine life; it deprives our oceans of oxygen and it's also breaking down and attaching itself in the form of microplastics to salt and seafood - which ultimately finds itself into the bodies of those who eat either product.
if you have ever bought a plastic container of a home cleaner or body product that claims to be recycled ocean plastic – from an actual ocean, it is unlikely to contain much plastic that actually saw fish, turtles and whales.
The main problems with rescued open ocean plastics are degradation, contaminants and mixing of plastic types. Plastic that has washed around a salty ocean, rocks, reefs and been baked in the sun; tends to be lose a bit of its original strength, pick up friends along the way and often getting tangled up with other plastics.
To recycle it, degraded plastic has to be cleaned and what is rescued has to be bound together with something to make it stick together. Generally that means adding virgin plastic - anywhere to 50%, probably more. No one is actually saying.
If you read a recycled ocean plastic packaging claim carefully, you might be lcuky to discover that it is in fact 'recycled near-ocean plastic'. While it's a long bow to call plastic that has never seen any kind of marine activity ocean plastic, the fact it was rescued from near a waterway or ocean means two important things:
It’s easy. Minimise your use of any kind of plastic – especially if you can’t reuse it. If you do buy products in plastic packaging, buy recyclable and make sure you recycle. Never leave any kind of plastic at the beach, near waterways or in the bush.
If you suspect a supplier or product seller isn't giving you the whole story, look for what is not said, rather than what is said - the clues are always there. If it isn't clear on the website or label where packaging comes from and who made it, especially when the whole point of a business is about less packaging plastic, investigate or leave the product 'on the shelf'.
Ask questions. If you get stone walled be suspicious. In the end, you may well still choose to use that business, but at least do so knowing what they really stand for.