KOH CHANG, Thailand: As a long-tail boat pulls into a fishing village on Thailand’s southern island of Koh Chang, locals gather to sell their wares – not seafood, but plastic.

The villagers, members of the semi-nomadic Moken people, sell to Tide, a start-up that is trying to create new value from old plastics collected in or near the sea.

Recyclers have long recovered some of the more than 6 million tons of plastic that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates enter the ocean each year.

But Tide works directly with everyone involved in the process, from collectors in remote Thai fishing villages to rug makers in the Netherlands.

Its plastic is traceable and certified “ocean-bound” – a process that involves annual audits by an NGO.

It is processed using a method, according to Tide, that results in a recycled product of comparable quality to virgin plastic.

“We are convinced that there is enough plastic in our world and that we should take what already exists,” said Marc Krebs, co-founder of the Swiss company.

On Koh Chang, a 30-minute speedboat ride from the sleepy southern town of Ranong, the arrival of the Tide boat sparks a flurry of activity.

Mimi, 65, brought out several old rice bags filled with bottles that joined a growing pile of torn fishing nets, old ropes and discarded jerry cans.

“The more I collect, the more I get. I can’t collect everything,” she told AFP, refusing to give her last name.

Villagers live along the beach in dilapidated wooden houses on stilts.

Below, the high tide mark is clear – behind it is a carpet of rubbish, from styrofoam boxes and flip-flops to takeaway cups and packets of crisps.

Only a small portion is commercially viable for recycling. Tide purchases six categories, including fishing nets and common types of plastic bottles (PET) and cartons (HDPE).

“Every day we have a lot of products that we can’t sell or recycle, and I’m sure there are a lot more in the ocean,” Nirattisai Ponputi, Tide’s chief operating officer, told AFP in Thailand.