Together for clean water: 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.(1) Under the motto “Building Bridges,” the partnership aims to make a global commitment to waste disposal.
Launching in April 2023, the project will use one of everwave’s AI-supported waste collection boats to remove plastics from rivers and canals in and around the Thai capital of Bangkok, where 385 tons of plastic waste are washed into the sea every year. The Audi Environmental Foundation and the Ferry Porsche Foundation are covering the project’s start-up costs, and support the construction of professional waste disposal facilities in the area. These operations will be supported by a newly created local project team, thus generating local jobs.
The collaboration aims to close the loop on plastic waste using ecological solutions and leveraging local expertise to ensure the best possible results. To this end, everwave is supported by its partner the TerraCycle Thai Foundation in Bangkok.
New structures for clean water
Every year, more than eleven million tons of plastic reach our oceans, a large portion of that via rivers. The annual amount of plastic washing into the sea could almost triple by 2040.2
Clemens Feigl, everwave CEO, said: “To create lasting solutions, long-term clean-up projects are needed that also support the building of waste disposal infrastructure. The start-up funding for Thailand is a milestone for ecological added value.” With the Audi Environmental Foundation and the Ferry Porsche Foundation, everwave has found partners that share its vision of a sustainable transformation.
This is the latest development in a partnership that acts worldwide to dispose of waste, following the motto “Building bridges”. Last year, the Audi Environmental Foundation, German cosmetics manufacturer BABOR BEAUTY GROUP, the Ferry Porsche Foundation, and everwave removed more than 69 tons of plastic from the river Alt in Romania, using a waste collection boat. This is part of the companies’ mission to help protect the environment and secure a livable future, supported by technological innovations.
About everwave:
everwave cleans up the environment. Its waste collection boats are used to prevent waste from entering the oceans. Its clean-up tools are also assisted by AI, which can detect and analyze waste. The collected material is then recycled through environmentally friendly processes. In addition, everwave works to raise public awareness of environmental issues. The start-up’s technologies are already operational in countries including Serbia, Romania, and Cambodia. Today, everwave has already collected over 750 tonnes of waste from rivers.
About the Ferry Porsche Foundation:
Founded in 2018, the Ferry Porsche Foundation supports and initiates charitable projects in the fields of social affairs, environment, education and academia, culture, and sports. Through its social engagement, the Foundation aims above all to support young people at the company locations of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Its name comes from Ferry Porsche, who founded the sports car manufacturer Porsche in 1948.
1Meijer, L. et al. (2021), Science Advances Vol 7, Issue 18
2The PEW Charitable Trust & SYSTEMIQ, 2020