Kia’s by Kia’s global partner, The Ocean Cleanup, pulled 55-tons of ugly, dangerous, plastic debris from the ocean. The seven-year global partnership agreed in April 2022 will see that detritus used in new Kia new EV models, such as the EV6. You might think that is a huge amount of plastic, but it is a mere drop in the ocean (I’ll wait while you clap.)

This load of old rubbish was taken previously pristine waters around Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. The Ocean Cleanup’s System 002 extraction took a sail through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). The 1.6 million KM2 GPGP is a hideous testament to the folly of the human existence, equal to three times the size of France.

Following this hefty haul, The Ocean Cleanup announced its new System 03 technology, almost three times larger than System 002. As all scaled up technologies are, it is more efficient by gathering more rubbish at a lower price.

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ABOVE: 2023 – kia and partner The Ocean Cleanup plastic recycling

Oddly, despite humans adding an ever increasing amount of plastic waste to the world’s wonderful waters, The Ocean Cleanup’s aim is to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. Perhaps it would be cheaper just to send it to Kia by ship way before it ever gets in the water?

Charles Ryu, Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Brand & CX Division at Kia Corp., commented: “The record catch of plastics brought to shore by The Ocean Cleanup for recycling is tangible proof of how technology can deliver sustainable solutions at scale. Kia’s partnership with The Ocean Cleanup demonstrates the brand’s commitment to having a positive impact. Initiatives such as this one perfectly align with Kia’s transition to a sustainable mobility solutions provider and our Plan S strategy, through which we embrace the needs of our customers and the protection of our environment by acting as a responsible corporate citizen.”

Nisha Bakker, Director Partnerships of The Ocean Cleanup, said: “This record delivery marks the end of the System 002 era for The Ocean Cleanup, and the perfect platform as we launch System 03. We are moving forward step-by-step, and we believe that System 03 represents the size of system required to scale up and expand our cleanup in the most economical way. Beyond System 03, we plan to deploy a fleet of systems that together will be capable of removing 50 per cent of the GPGP every five years. However, we cannot do this alone. Committed and valued partners, and particularly our global partner Kia, remain essential for The Ocean Cleanup to bring our shared ambitions of plastic-free oceans to reality.”

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