MBRC the ocean supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

The 17 goals, adopted in 2015 by all UN Member States as part of The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

By offering sustainable waste management systems to communities currently challenged by both household waste and ocean plastic, MBRC ensure that the settlements are cleaner, healthier and more resilient for their residents. MBRC aims to establish and support robust waste management systems over a period of three years and then step back, leaving the communities with the tools and knowledge to continue the work independently, with support readily available from MBRC if necessary.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

All plastic originates from fossil fuels. By providing a recycled alternative to virgin plastic, oil and gas extraction for the plastic industry can be halted and the emissions caused during the production process avoided. Recycling plastic that would otherwise have ended in landfill (where it releases methane as it slowly degrades) or even incinerated (releasing toxic as well as greenhouse gases) reduces emissions further. 

Each plastic bottle that is stopped before it enters the ocean helps combat climate change further. The ocean is our greatest ally in mitigating the effects of climate change on the planet, absorbing about 90% of the excess heat and at least 23% of the carbon emissions. Ocean plastic interferes with this process. The biological carbon pump, in which phytoplankton and zooplankton capture carbon at the ocean surface and transport it down to the twilight zone, enables the ocean to extract such high levels of carbon from the atmosphere. As ocean plastic breaks up into microplastics, plankton are attracted to it, mistaking it for food, eating it and thereby reducing their metabolic rates and levels of reproduction. As more and more plankton are impacted by plastic, so too is their ability to absorb carbon. Reducing ocean plastic helps the ocean help us in the fight against climate change.