From waste to vacuum - unique designs from salvaged plastic

Pictures have been released of the five vacuum cleaners made out of plastic recovered from the world's oceans as part of the 'Vac from the sea' project.

The world's annual consumption of plastic is estimated to be around 100 million tonnes, much of this ends up as waste in the world's oceans where it is thought to contribute to the deaths of more than a million sea birds, turtles and other forms of marine wildlife each year.

In July consumer goods company Electrolux launched its 'Vac from the sea' project in order to draw attention to the issue of plastic debris in the ocean. The aim of the project was to build five unique vacuum cleaners from plastic salvaged from the world's major oceans.

Though these vacuum cleaners are not commercially available in a November 4 press release Electrolux stated that the company hope the production of these vacuum cleaners will ' raise awareness around ocean plastic waste and inspire consumers to do more recycling.'  

The vacuum cleaners are each themed around the ocean from which the plastic was recovered, Electrolux will begin on a world tour of the products within the next few months and are considering auctioning one vacuum cleaner and contributing the revenue to research into cleaning solutions for the world's oceans.

Other multi-national companies such as pen producer Bic have launched a range of products made from recycled plastics in a bid to draw consumer attention to the importance of recycling plastics.