Hawaii is turning ocean plastic into roads to fight pollution

An island program recycles discarded fishing gear and plastic debris into durable pavement

Old, plastic fishing nets being collected into a pile on a trailer.

About 90 tons of plastic, including old fishing nets, have been hauled from the waters and beaches of Hawaii. Some of it has been turned into pellets to be added to asphalt and tested in paved road sections on Oahu.

Courtesy of the Center for Marine Debris Research

In Hawaii, researchers are literally paving the roads with good intentions.