Please select your home edition
Edition
upffront 2024 October sale Leaderboard

The Coca-Cola Company and the Ocean Cleanup join forces in Vietnam to tackle plastic pollution

by CFF Communications 11 Jan 2022 09:40 UTC
Marine plastic pollution © RYA

Coca-Cola Vietnam and The Ocean Cleanup today announced that the Can Tho river in Can Tho City has been selected as one of 15 river locations around the world as part of a global partnership between the two organisations to use advanced technology to help stem the tide of plastic pollution entering oceans, by first intercepting and cleaning up waste in rivers.

In 2021, The Coca-Cola Company became a global implementation partner for The Ocean Cleanup's river project. The partnership brings the beverage company and the technological non-profit organisation together in an exciting partnership to help clean up some of the world's major rivers.

In addition to supporting the deployment of cleanup systems, the partnership also aims to engage and bring together industry and members of the public to help tackle plastic pollution. Using solar-powered technology, The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptor™ river cleanup solution is a robot that extracts marine debris. The original Interceptor™ was unveiled in 2019 and is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world's oceans from rivers.

After years of planning, the Interceptor™ known as 003 or René, was launched into the Can Tho river for detailed testing last month. It is expected to become fully operational over the next few months, and is capable of extracting up to 50,000 kg of trash per day.

The river cleanup project deployment in Vietnam was made possible by the implementation support from the People's Committee of Can Tho and the Can Tho Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE). Alongside the river cleanup, the partnership is also working with DoNRE and local operators to conduct river waste research to scale up the project where appropriate.

"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," said Mr. Nguy?n Chí Kiên, Vice Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho city. "At the same time, this project will greatly contribute to Can Tho City's goal towards an ecological and modern city, imbued with the identity of rivers and the Mekong Delta, visioning by 2030. To get there, we are looking forward to joining hands of non-profit organizations, private sectors and Can Tho citizens in such environmental protection projects, maintaining our position as an "ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City" - one of the most remarkable titles that was honorably given to Can Tho City."

As part of the global implementation partnership, Coca-Cola in Vietnam will support the development of waste management solutions for collected debris and provide local support to The Ocean Cleanup such as engagement with local stakeholders.

"The Ocean Cleanup's mission is to rid the oceans of plastic," said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO, The Ocean Cleanup. "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."

As part of its World Without Waste vision, The Coca-Cola Company is working to ensure that all of the material it uses in its packaging is collected and recycled, so that none of it ends up as waste. The Company has a global goal to help collect and recycle every bottle and can they sell by 2030.

In Vietnam, Coca-Cola is helping to support and drive locally relevant collection and recycling solutions. Coca-Cola Vietnam was one of the founding members of Packaging Recovery Organisation (PRO) Vietnam, a partnership with other leading companies, recyclers and government agencies to accelerate local packaging collection and recycling in support of a clean and green Vietnam.

"Right now, our packaging is among the waste that can be found in the ocean. This is unacceptable to us. We want to support partners and technologies that help to clean up our oceans and rivers, especially the Mekong river system - one of the critical river systems in ASEAN that flows to oceans. "Through innovation and partnership, we're also working to create circular solutions for the collection and recycling of our bottles in Vietnam. That's why we're very excited about this new partnership with The Ocean Cleanup in Vietnam, starting in our beautiful Can Tho river, and we're looking forward to making a lasting impact through this work," said Leonardo Garcia, General Manager, Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia.

Related Articles

The GPGP can be cleaned for $7.5 billion
Cleanup technology validated and ready for scale-up The Ocean Cleanup today declared the eradication of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) achievable within a decade and an ambition to make the cleanup happen faster and more cost effectively. Posted on 7 Sep
The Ocean Cleanup to complete 100th extraction
The first ever to be livestreamed direct from the Pacific Ocean The Ocean Cleanup is set to reach a milestone of 100 plastic extractions from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Posted on 23 May
The Ocean Cleanup breaks 10,000,000 kg barrier
Earth Day announcement showcases the power of data and technology in solving ocean plastic pollution The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world - approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower. Posted on 22 Apr
UNDP & The Ocean Cleanup to tackle plastic
Today signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Ocean Cleanup today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on eliminating plastic pollution in oceans and rivers around the globe. Posted on 10 Feb 2023
Indonesia makes agreement with The Ocean Cleaup
Along with the Netherlands they consider marine plastic debris a priority Indonesia has an ambitious goal: to reduce marine plastic debris by 70% by 2025. One strategy for achieving that goal is to use technology to prevent waste leakage from land to the ocean through rivers. Posted on 15 Nov 2022
Over 75% of GPGP plastic originates from fishing
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is largely composed of fishing-related plastic waste The Ocean Cleanup has published new research in the journal Scientific Reports showing that the GPGP is largely composed of fishing-related plastic waste, with 75% to 86% of plastic waste in the GPGP identified as coming from offshore fishing activity. Posted on 2 Sep 2022
The Ocean Cleanup proves viability of technology
With trash collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Ocean Cleanup, the non-profit developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, announces proof of technology upon returning to Victoria Harbour with trash collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Posted on 21 Oct 2021
The Ocean Cleanup announces new partnership
Coca-Cola becomes first global implementation partner for The Ocean Cleanup's River Project The Coca-Cola Company and The Ocean Cleanup today announced that Coca-Cola will become a Global Implementation Partner for The Ocean Cleanup's river project. Posted on 3 Jun 2021
1000 rivers emit 80% of ocean plastic pollution
One percent of rivers worldwide represent the largest contributors of ocean plastic The Ocean Cleanup, the non-profit developing advanced technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic, today presented the results of its updated global river pollution model in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances. Posted on 2 May 2021
Coldplay joins The Ocean Cleanup mission
'NEON Moon 1' will start collecting plastic in Malaysia this summer The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit developing advanced technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic, announced its collaboration with musicians and philanthropists Coldplay. Posted on 26 Mar 2021
Ocean Safety 2023 - New Identity - FOOTERStoneways Marine 2021 - FOOTERNorth Sails Performance 2023 - FOOTER