China Tongcheng Tianbai Plastic Co.,Ltd.

Covanta Energy Corp. is teaming with Project Kaisei to clean up ocean debris as part of a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative.

Project Kaisei is a non-governmental organization focused on reducing plastic waste in the ocean. Covanta Energy is a Fairfield-based company that owns waste-to-energy power generation plants.

Beginning in late 2010, Project Kaisei will collect plastic debris from the Northern Pacific Gyre for remediation testing. Covanta Energy will use the debris to test its new waste-to-fuel technology to convert the plastic into a diesel substitute using a catalytic process for converting solid organic materials directly to mineral diesel fuel.

“It is estimated that roughly 90 percent of plastics made today aren’t recycled. This poses a significant opportunity for reuse, recycling and energy recovery,” said Paul Gilman, Covanta Energy senior vice president and chief sustainability officer. “We believe our partnership with Project Kaisei will bring worldwide attention to the issue of plastic in our ocean and shed light on how sustainable solutions such as waste-to-fuel and energy-from-waste can support marine debris remediation.”

Covanta Energy and Project Kaisei have set a target to convert 50 tons of marine debris into renewable fuel each year.