Plastic Recycling Research Facility (PRRF) Volunteer Sign Up

At the Center for Marine Debris Research we generally need volunteers to help unload, measure, weigh, sample, sort and store marine debris at our warehouse in Kalihi called the PRRF, or Plastic Recycling Research Facility.

The two main megaplastics projects are: The Bounty Project, which removes marine debris from the ocean by providing incentive for Hawaii fishers to pick up derelict fishing gear (DFG) from the sea and bring it back to Oahu, where we pay them $1 per pound. This project is a win-win for fishers and the ocean, providing fishers with more money and removing harmful plastics from the oceans. We just passed 120,000 pounds of plastic removed from the oceans through this project.

Our second project, Nets to Infrastructure, serves to scale up removal of derelict fishing gear and plastic marine debris across the Hawaiian Islands, and recycle the debris into locally made, locally used, long term infrastructure products!

Along the way, we collect data for our research and inform prevention strategies!

We have open volunteering sessions on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 - 5pm that you can sign up for here. Simply click on the date you'd like to volunteer, provide your name and contact info, then click on "register". You won't actually need a ticket, you can just show up on the day you signed up for at our warehouse, located at:

1708 Mary St., Honolulu, HI 96819

*Please note: Close-toed shoes are required and we strongly suggest that you wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty (shorts and t shirt are fine) and bring a refillable water bottle. Gloves and other protective gear and tools are provided.

If you'd like to volunteers during additional times, or have any questions, please reach out to Mafalda, the Megaplastics Program Director ([email protected]), or Katie, the Bounty Project Manager ([email protected]).

We look forward to meeting and working with you!

Host or Publisher The Center for Marine Debris Research