This artistic installation is made of debris collected in the ocean

Image: Katherine Griffiths / City of Sydney

Plastic pollution is a huge problem for the world's oceans. It is estimated that around 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the global marine environment each year and poses a serious threat to wildlife.

Many of us really see its effects only from afar, but an Australian artwork aims to bring the problem closer to our lives.

Wasteland is an installation of 2,255 orange spheres consisting of 120 kilograms of oceanic debris collected in the Great Barrier Reef, hanging from the ceiling of the Sydney Customs.

Produced by Sydney-based sustainable design studio Mundane Matters, the work inspires Costa Rica's conservation experiment, in which 12,000 tons of orange peels were dumped into a pasture sterile in the mid-90s. 16 years later, researchers discovered that it had become a lush forest.

"Nature is so abundant and resourceful, and if we see how to properly use the waste, it could be resourceful," said Mundane Matters creative director Danling Xiao.

Image: Katherine Griffiths / City of Sydney

Xiao has been working on the project for two years, but received a commission for the work of the Art & About program from Sydney City last year.

She and the Mundane Matters team have worked with Eco Barge, an Australian non-profit organization that has been collecting ocean plastic in the Great Barrier Reef area for nine years.

The debris is a mixture of plastic bottle lids, plastic bottle necks, a broken chair, a broken kettle and microplastics.

It was transferred to Sydney, sorted in different colors, shredded, melted at a heat of 260 degrees Celsius (500 degrees Fahrenheit), and then injection molded into orange-like balls. About 60% of the bullet is marine debris, the rest being virgin plastic and dye.

"There has been a lot of trial and error, because the plastic itself is so unpredictable," Xiao explained. "It's very fragile and we tried to eliminate marine debris, but it's impossible to use 100% marine debris in this case."

Xiao said she hoped the work would raise awareness of plastic pollution from the oceans and recycling as a solution.

"It's a positive message to all of us that we can tackle the problem. If you look at the recycling industry in Australia, our results are not very good at the moment and there is still a lot to do to improve. "

Wasteland appears at the Customs House from Sydney, Australia, until October 28th.