The war on waste

Since its inception in 2009 the Audi Environmental Foundation has championed causes around the globe aimed at creating a better tomorrow through the preservation of the environment. For many years the Foundation has targeted the waterways of Europe for attention, recognising the great harm done by the tonnes of rubbish that finds its way into these literal arteries of communities.

Projects such as its ‘floating islands’ in the Port of Rotterdam, for example, have shown how relatively simple and inexpensive ideas can make a tremendous difference to the health of waterways and by extension, the very communities they service.

These initiatives to clear up waterways have since included a collaboration with the Ferry Porsche Foundation to help clear waterborne rubbish from the Olt River around the city of Făgăraș in Romania. That project alone saw more than 69 tonnes of waste removed from the river, with tangible and ongoing results.

Now the Audi Environmental Foundation is again partnering with the Ferry Porsche Foundation, but this time in an assault on the waterways of Thailand under the slogan of ‘Building Bridges’, a partnership designed to make a global commitment to waste disposal.

The Audi Environmental Foundation and the Ferry Porsche Foundation will help clean up rivers and waters in Thailand through a new long-term collaboration with green start-up everwave. The focus is on the capital city of Bangkok, where almost 385 tons of plastic are washed into the sea every year.

Launched this month, the project uses one of everwave’s AI-supported waste collection boats just as it did in the Romanian project. This specialist vessel uses sensors to collect and assess data based on the amount, type and composition of garbage it will encounter in the waterways around Bangkok, which sees some 385 tonnes of plastic waste finding its way into the sea every year. This data is then used to ensure the most efficient means of recycling or disposal is used on the recovered waste at purpose-built facilities.

The two organisations are covering the project’s start-up costs and are also supporting the construction of professional waste disposal facilities in the area to deal with the recovered refuse. These operations will be supported by a newly created local project team, generating local jobs in the ongoing fight against waste and the associated problems it causes to the local environment.

The idea of this project is to close the loop on plastic waste using ecological solutions and leverage local expertise to ensure the best possible results. To this end, everwave is supported by its partner the TerraCycle Thai Foundation in Bangkok.

Of course it is an ongoing problem, that at first may seem insurmountable, but like most problems, can be dealt with bit by bit and over time. With more than 11 million tonnes of plastic waste finding its way into the world’s oceans each year, it is not something that can be left for another day. It is estimated that the amount of discarded plastic in the oceans could reach as high as 35 million tonnes by 2040, so the time to take action and put in place projects of this nature is now.

“To create lasting solutions, long-term clean-up projects are needed that also support the building of waste disposal infrastructure,” says Clemens Feigl, CEO of everwave.

“This start-up funding for Thailand is a milestone for ecological added value.”

Certainly, until populations and corporations can learn to deal responsibly with plastic waste products in the first instance, projects like this will continue to be the difference between healthy and choked waterways the world over.