The Plastiki, a 60-foot sailing catamaran built by British adventurer David de Rothschild, goes on a test sail in San Francisco Bay in Sausalito, California, February 11, 2010. The vessel, built from more than 12,500 reclaimed bottles and other recycled plastic and waste products, is preparing to set sail from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. Photo: Xinhua

An extraordinary boat made from 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles is due to reach Sydney next weekend after traversing the Pacific for more than 120 days, expedition leader David de Rothschild said on Monday.

The Plastiki, a 18.2m catamaran built from plastic soft drink bottles, and a newly developed and uniquely recyclable material named Seretex, will have sailed over 7,500 nautical miles from San Francisco by the time she reaches Sydney on a mission to beat waste.

Setting sail on March 21 of this year, Rothschild, along with his crew of five including female skipper, Jo Royle, both from the United Kingdom, embarked on the Plastiki voyage to highlight the issue of plastic pollution in the world's oceans by showcasing waste as a resource.

During the voyage, the Plastiki has visited Kiribati, Western Samoa and New Caledonia before making its way across the Tasman Sea to the Australian coast. Along the way the crew have witnessed first hand the polluted waters of the South Pacific, affirming their mission to beat waste.

"After spending 120 days at sea we are very excited to be finally arriving in Sydney, a city with a long history of demonstrating care and concern for the marine environment.

"We hope Sydneysiders will turn out en masse to see Plastiki arrive, we'd love as many people to be there in boats or on the foreshores to join in our celebrations. Collectively we can all deliver a spectacular message in a bottle," Rothschild said.

One of Plastiki's global goals is to see a reduction in the amount of manmade waste heading out to landfill and sea.

The Plastiki will be based at the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) at Darling Harbour for one month. An Open Day focusing on Plastiki's environmental activities and marine pollution issues will be held at the ANMM on Sunday Aug. 1.