A Long-Term Commitment to a Plastic-Free Future

The Audi Environmental Foundation is supporting Aachen-based green start-up Everwave’s clean-up project for the third time to combat plastic garbage in Thailand’s rivers. Since May, a high-tech garbage collection boat has fished up to 28,000 kg of waste from Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. The long-term initiative aims to create Thailand’s sustainable recovery and recycling system. Read on.

Using high-tech and local partners to combat plastic garbage in Thailand’s rivers

Bangkok, September 14, 2023 – Ducati Asia Pacific’s employees participated in the clean-up project supported by the Audi Environmental Foundation, the Ferry Porsche Foundation, and the green start-up Everwave to rid the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok of plastic garbage. Since May, a garbage collection boat from Germany was equipped with high-tech equipment. It has been removing waste from the river – up to five tons daily under ideal conditions. By cooperating with the local non-governmental organization (NGO) TerraCycle Thai Foundation, the project partners aim to establish in the medium term a stable infrastructure for waste processing in the region around the Thai capital of Bangkok.

A Long-Term Commitment to Protecting Our Rivers and Oceans

The aim of the current project is to fish as much plastic as possible from the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. The river flows into the Gulf of Thailand 35 kilometers west of the capital. And flushes around 385 tons of plastic garbage into the ocean every year. The starting phase of the garbage collection project was initially scheduled to run for five months. The project itself is designed to be more long-term than previous collaborations. With this initiative, the project partners want to draw attention to the fact that rivers act as “plastic highways.” Meaning that carelessly discarded litter finds its way into the water before being swept out to the open sea.

High-tech as an effective tool for fighting pollution

Since the beginning of May, a CollectiX garbage collection boat from Everwave has been sailing on the Chao Phraya and its canals. Fishing up to five tons of material out of the water every day. The high-tech boat uses drones, cameras, and AI to detect and collect large piles of trash. Then to the shore for sorting and processing by employees from the local NGO TerraCycle Thai Foundation.

“We believe leveraging high-tech for a cleaner environment is very promising. This approach has already been confirmed through previous collaborations. With World Cleanup Day taking place on September 16, 2023, it is even more important to us to raise awareness of this successful project. With the help of technical solutions we’re calling Greenovation, we can be faster and more efficient today than we thought possible years ago. That is why we have also intensified our commitment to Everwave. With the current project in Thailand, we are pursuing two goals: We want to remove ´garbage from the water with the help of the high-tech boat and raise awareness of ecological responsibility among the population.”
Rüdiger Recknagel, Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation

Under the motto “Cultivating Passion for the Environment”, informing people about how conscious and unconscious actions impact nature is one of the foundation’s three areas of activity – along with green innovation and responsibility. The Audi Environmental Foundation wants to raise awareness of how every individual can contribute to a sustainable lifestyle through their daily decisions.

A lot of the plastic in the Chao Phraya comes from open landfills in the region. So, it’s not enough to just fish the garbage from the river. We need to address the root causes. That’s why our cooperation with the TerraCycle Thai Foundation is so important and why we are working with our local partner on a sustainable system for recycling garbage. We are supporting facilities for sorting and recycling. And in the long term, we want to establish collection points and containers too.”
CLEMENS FEIGL, EVERWAVE CEO

“We are very happy for our employees to participate in the clean-up project organized by the Audi Environmental Foundation which supports Germany-based green start-up Everwave. Having our Asia Pacific headquarters in the country, contributing to this great initiative is a fantastic way of showing Ducati’s support and passion for the environment.”
Marco Biondi, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Ducati Asia Pacific

A quantum leap for efficiency

The project partners from Germany prioritize local cooperation to ensure a sustainable impact in the region. Two Thai boatmen have been hired to work on the CollectiX boat, and two more are being trained. For the local NGOs, cooperating with the initiative from Germany means a quantum leap in efficiency. Before the boat was working in the water, members of the TerraCycle Thai Foundation pulled garbage from the river by hand or with fishing nets. Collaboration is also critical for future steps.

“The attention that the boat attracts on the river can be used to interest other strong partners and win them for the project,” says. In the long term, future partners could establish sustainable structures for waste avoidance and recycling. If it goes well, the Chao Phraya could be trash-free in ten to twenty years.”
Inga Hilbig, Head of Marketing at Everwave

Every year, millions of tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans, where it harms marine life and ecosystems. By cleaning up plastic pollution in rivers, we can help to protect the oceans and our planet.

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