Assessment of the ocean plastic crisis leading to the development of The Marine Plastic Certification Standard

Over the past few years, growing awareness has been reported on the global ocean plastic pollution crisis. Organizations have jumped on that crisis and have turned it into business opportunities. However, the extent of this crisis is often not well known and little, or no regulation exist to oversee the claims organization make in that blossoming ocean plastic market. After a thorough analysis on the ocean plastic crisis, this thesis’ objective is to shine light on the ocean plastic market and critically assess the already existing certifications available on the market to defend the relevance of the development of a new certification scheme: The Marine Plastic Certification Standard. Through an empirical research, the different elements of the certification will be drafted and then adjusted to address at best the market by considering commercially interested parties, uninterested parties (such as NGOs) and customers. All in all, after a detailed writing process, a final version of the certification standard will be presented followed by the further steps needed to launch a certification scheme on the market.