Spain’s Ecoalf converts plastic litter from the sea into clothing
Ecoalf, the Madrid-based clothing firm, is working with 2,000 fishermen off the coast of Spain to convert plastic waste from the sea into fabric and ultimately clothing. The collected plastic is converted into chips and then pellets, before being spun into thread used to create backpacks, jackets and trainers. The company has so far transformed 30 million bottles into material. A survey by Greenpeace in June found that 96% of surface litter in the Mediterranean sea was plastic waste. An estimated 12.7 million metric tonnes of the material enter the ocean each year.

Three miles off Spain's Costa Blanca, Vicente Sana and his crew pull in their first catch of the day, but as the nets are opened onto the deck, plastic and rubbish tumbles out with the fish.

Fisherman Paco Perez points out a bit of old tyre, a diver's fin, water bottles and yoghurt pots.

He tells me this is normal, that they're seeing more plastic in the Mediterranean now than in the past.

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know," he replies. "I guess people are throwing away more, but we notice it more in the summer."

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:33 Why fishermen are recycling for eco-fashion

A recent survey by Greenpeace found 96% of litter floating on the surface of the Mediterranean was plastic. Globally, it is estimated that as much as 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic enters the ocean each year.

Vicente and his crew, along with about 2,000 fishermen in Spain, are now working with clothing company Ecoalf to turn plastic found in the sea into fabric.

"We make our living from the sea so we have to clean it up," he explains. "Everything we catch, instead of throwing it back, which would be easy, we just separate into bags and in the afternoon we deposit them in the container."

Image: Paco Perez picks out a tire caught from a haul of fish

Environmentally, working on a trawler causes controversy, so some of them see the project as doing their bit.

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The rubbish that is collected onboard is thrown into bright yellow bins in the port. The plastic is then separated and taken by Ecoalf to be broken into chips and then pellets, which can eventually be spun into thread.

The end results include jackets, trainers and backpacks - all made from recycled plastic.

At the company's store in Madrid, founder Javier Goyeneche explains how his dismay at the amount of waste produced by the fashion world made him want to make a clothing line that was more sustainable.

Image: The fishermen's livelihoods depend on cleaning up the water

So far they have transformed 30 million used bottles into material but Mr Goyeneche says the pollution is widespread: "We did a trial test with a thousand divers (in Thailand) in January and we took 7.5 tons of waste in one day out of the ocean, 7.5 kilos per diver.

"It's not a problem of Spain or of Thailand, it's the same problem in Mexico, Columbia, in Hawaii. This is a worldwide problem."

Of course, it is not just fish swimming with plastic. Thousands of holidaymakers pack onto the popular beaches of the Costa Blanca each year.

The fishermen tell me tourism had increased the pollution in the sea.

Image: Recycled plastic is eventually turned into jackets like this one

The fishermen's livelihoods depend on cleaning up the water. The pollution is killing off their product. In Vicente's words: "No fish means no work."

The rest of us won't go untouched; the plastic that is filling up our seas will eventually end up on our plates.

Sky News launched its Sky Ocean Rescue campaign earlier this year aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the world's seas.

:: You can find out more about the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com