Abstract
Plastics came into mass production in the 1950s, revered as a revolutionary break in material sciences. The conveniences it has brought about are immeasurable, and its pervasiveness in modern day infrastructure extend far beyond our imaginations. However, this non-biodegradable compound has infiltrated the seas, a place it does not belong in. With the rampant mismanagement of waste plastics in surrounding countries, the South China Sea (SCS) is now the greatest emitter of marine plastic accounting for 55% of the ocean’s plastic waste. To curb the environmental degradation, this project speculates a prototypical design of a plastic processing offshore settlement located at a sea gyre in the SCS, where marine debris tends to accumulate. Nestled within the fictitious Joint Economic Zone (JEZ), the primary function of the settlement is to collect and re-purpose mismanaged waste plastics in the SCS as a political concession to present-day maritime conflicts. Set in the future, this imagined phase (2) rehabilitates people affected by the rising sea levels while establishing a new resilient economy based on waste plastics.