Coca-Cola and The Ocean Cleanup to Tackle Plastic Pollution in 15 River Locations Across Globe
The two organizations have partnered to carry out a huge cleanup project of 15 rivers across the world using advanced technology to intercept and clean up waste
Coca-Cola and The Ocean Cleanup will clean up the Cần Thơ River in Cần Thơ City, Vietnam as part of their collaborative river cleanup project. The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor will soon be launched in the Mekong Delta region as part of the partnership. The goal of this collaboration is to stem the flow of plastic pollution entering oceans, by first intercepting and cleaning up waste in rivers.
It is one of the many actions Coca-Cola’s mission for World Without Waste. The company also invested in plant-based technologies and recyclable packaging, which will reach 100 percent recyclability by 2025, globally. Moreover, it aims to help collect and recycle every bottle and soda can it sells by 2030.
Image: The Ocean Cleanup
Mr. Nguyễn Chí Kiên, vice director of the department of natural resources and environment of Cần Thơ City, said;
We expect that this river cleanup project will make an important contribution to help the city improve the capacity and efficiency in waste collection, segregation and treatment; at the same time, prevent and thoroughly collect waste, especially plastic waste floating on some major river routes in the Can Tho city.
Aside from carrying out river cleanups, the collaboration will focus on engaging and bringing together industry and members of the public to help combat plastic pollution. Using solar-powered technology, The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor river cleanup solution is a robot that removes marine debris. It was introduced in 2019 and is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic waste from entering the oceans from rivers.
The current undertaking is expected to become fully functional over the next few months, and can extract up to 50,000 kg of waste per day. Moreover, Coca-Cola in Vietnam will back the development of waste management solutions for collected waste and offer local support to The Clean Cleanup.
Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO, The Ocean Cleanup, said;
The Ocean Cleanup’s mission is to rid the oceans of plastic. I am happy to see progress and our first steps together with Coca-Cola on the road to tackling the complex plastic pollution problem in the vast Mekong Delta and its sensitive ecosystems. This is good news for the oceans.
This project is likely to help clean many rivers across the world. If succeeded, the endavour could expand further.
