An Anchorage engineer is turning plastic waste into big change

An Anchorage engineer is collecting plastic waste washing up on Alaska’s beaches and hopes you will too. Patrick Simpson told Alaska’s News Source that up to 125 million pounds of plastic accumulates on Alaska’s beaches annually.

To help combat the environmental impact, Simpson received a grant from the EPA to purchase a machine that breaks down plastic and molds it into “plastic lumber.”

Now, others are also getting involved to help collect discarded plastic. Furnish Studio + Salvage in Anchorage collects plastic on Saturdays and Sundays between 10-4 p.m. There are also collection containers in Homer, Seward and Soldotna.

– Ashleigh Ebert, The Alaska 100