“Trapped: Ocean Memory,” is our entry for the Academy of Sciences Malaysia‘s ArtScience Prize 2025. As a Malaysian company involved in the plastics industry, our representative joined this event not just to showcase creativity, but to reflect on an issue we face every day – plastic waste.

We’re not artists or scientists, but we see plastic waste every single day. Over time, we noticed how much leftover material piles up – small, colourful offcuts that usually get thrown away. Instead of letting them go to waste, we turned them into something visual, and hopefully something meaningful.

The result is a simple artwork made from real plastic waste i.e. the same offcuts and shavings we throw away every day in our workshop.

What the Cubes Represent

We made three clear cubes using only scrap or leftover plastic, each showing a different stage of the ocean:

  • Cube 1 (The Past): Clean and fully deep blue, showing the ocean before plastic;

  • Cube 2 (The Present): Divided into three layers — the top third is blue with only a little plastic below it, the middle third still mostly blue, and the bottom third filled with plastic. It shows where we are now: already damaged but still recoverable. This is the most crucial stage – the warning signs are clear, with some of the buried plastic already floating up and showing; and

  • Cube 3 (The Future): Mostly colourful plastic, with only a thin blue layer left – a reflection of where things might go if nothing changes. The ocean is still there, but almost covered.

Everything inside is sealed – the waste is trapped, just like how plastic in the real world doesn’t break down easily and will stay with us, often for hundreds of years.

What AI Has to Do With This

We live in a time where artificial intelligence can predict:

  1. how much plastic will end up in the ocean 10, 20 or 50 years from now;
  2. where it will gather; and
  3. how it might affect ecosystems in the future.

But just knowing all this is not enough. If we don’t act on what we already know, nothing changes.

This artwork is our way of showing that – a reminder that while AI, data and forecasts can help, action is still up to us.

What We’re Doing (And Trying To Do Better)

As a plastics distributor and fabricator, we’re right in the middle of the supply chain. We work closely with engineers and factories, and we see the gaps – the leftover material, the over-ordering, the things that quietly go to waste.

We’re not a recycling company. We’re not zero-waste. But we’re trying to be more mindful of what we use, what we throw away, and how we talk about it. We’ve started to:

  • Repurpose offcuts whenever possible;

  • Help customers plan better to avoid over-ordering and wastage; and

  • Talk more openly about plastic waste, even in small ways like this project.

We believe that no matter how small or big a company is, they still have a part to play, even if it’s just by starting a conversation.

The dugong, a native species found in Malaysian waters, glides through a seagrass meadow, surrounded not by predators, but by the quiet persistence of human waste.

What You Can Do To Reduce Ocean Waste

Here are a few simple things we can all do:

  • Reduce single-use plastics – say no to straws, cutlery, and extra packaging;

  • Sort and recycle properly – rinse and separate recyclables to improve recycling success;

  • Reuse and repurpose – try to find second lives for containers, bags, or even packaging foam;

  • Support businesses that use sustainable practices – even your everyday choices make a difference; and

  • Talk about it – awareness leads to better habits, both at home and at work.

Thanks for Stopping By

If this made you pause and think, then we’ve done our part.

If you want to know more about our company or what we do with engineering plastics, feel free to click here. For now, we just hope this reminds all of us – in big industries or small homes – that we each play a part in what gets left behind. We believe everyone has a role to play in reducing waste and protecting what’s left of our oceans.

If you found this page by scanning the QR code at the ArtScience Prize 2025 exhibit – thank you for taking a closer look.