ME / CONTAINERS
The Long Afterlife of a Lost Shipping Container
Following shipping containers after they are lost at sea, with current loss estimates and new mandatory reporting rules.
Read storyIndependent editorial / Issue 001
Stories for a material planet.
We follow the materials, machines and hidden systems that connect everyday life to the ocean—and the planet beyond it.
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ME / NET
Featured story
What Really Happens to Fishing Gear After Use?
A net does not become waste at one clear moment. Its route depends on what it is made of, where it lands, and whether anybody can still extract value from it.
Read the full story ↗From the editorial desk
View archive ↗Latest stories
ME / FUTURE
A Reality Check for the Material of the Future
A practical framework for evaluating future-material claims before lab promise becomes industrial fact.
Read storyME / POLYMER
Why Good Plastic Still Becomes Bad Recycling
The economics behind secondary plastics—and why collection alone does not create a circular material market.
Read storyME / CABLE
When a Subsea Cable Goes Quiet
What happens when submarine telecommunications cables reach the end of service—and why decommissioning is a site-specific decision.
Read storyThe field guide
Five ways in.
01
Oceans
The infrastructures, industries and living systems that meet at sea.
↗02Materials
What things are made of—and why those choices shape what happens next.
↗03Where Things Go
Following products and infrastructure beyond the moment we stop seeing them.
↗04Planet Systems
Supply chains, policy, trade and the economics underneath material flows.
↗05Future Materials
A clear-eyed look at what deserves to move from lab promise to real use.
↗Our premise
The planet is not an abstract backdrop. It is a network of materials, labour, infrastructure and consequence. We tell the stories that make those connections visible.
How we work ↗