Plastic pollution has become an existential threat to marine life and human health
Now there is no doubt in the public debate: Plastic pollution is an existential threat to humanity[1]. The residues of the synthetic material created around a century ago are destroying marine life every second, including the natural bank of protein for all of us. With the current trend, we will have more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050[2], and this sounds like a scary apocalyptic world to live in. Regarding the impact on people, studies have identified that plastic particles – called microplastics – are already part of our bloodstream, lungs, and even our gut[3]. The impact of this on our health is yet to be fully determined.
Ichthion’s Azure Portoviejo
For these reasons, it is extremely important to take actions that will effectively cut plastic pollution. As such, governments around the world are negotiating a legally binding agreement called the Global Plastics Treaty, which is having its second round of negotiation talks starting the 29th of May 2023. For this event, several organisations are procuring analyses with the aim to inform the policy that is expected to be concluded in 2024. The general objectives of the treaty are to end plastic pollution, protect human health and the environment, and reduce the production, use, and discharge of plastics across their life cycle[4].
Ichthion’s Azure San Pedro
There are important challenges ahead, and an extremely important one is to be able to identify – from thousands of products – which are the ones creating the most impact. Currently, the debate refers to them as “single-used”, “short-lived” and “unnecessary”[5]. This aspect is crucial to consider, especially when the public debate previously spent huge energy, efforts, and resources to shape policy that has promoted the ban of products, such as plastic straws, which are only a tiny fraction of an immense problem, representing less than 1%[6].
The answer to this is technology. Our company, Ichthion Limited, which develops technology to stop the flow of plastics in rivers before they end in the ocean, has been working for three years with seven other organisations on community-first, data-centric interventions in rivers around the world. Together, we have been able to capture, remove, collect, and analyse over 1,300,000 kilograms of ocean-bound plastic from rivers worldwide[7]. As part of this journey, we worked with several communities in developing countries, where the problem is immense, and the conclusion that we reached is that only with data from rivers can we identify the products that pollute the most, and that this can vary depending on each country.
Our company now operates in four rivers and has assessed eight, including the Motagua River in Guatemala, which is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world. What we have found in these years is that the only way to assess the effectiveness of a change in policy and transformations in industry, as well as waste management systems, is to analyse rivers, as they are the main arteries of nature. In rivers, we can see if there is an improvement, or on the contrary, a negative effect of any change.
Ichthion is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system for plastic pollution data collection
The Global Plastics Treaty is giving humanity a unique and indispensable opportunity to turn off the tap of plastics finding their way into the environment. We believe that is essential for treaty negotiators and implementers to consider how to accurately define the plastic products that pollute the most. Technologies in rivers give us the answers to this question. With these innovations, we can also assess the real impact of new policies and promote transformations in industrial processes, as well as waste management systems. We cannot fight against one of our biggest existential threats without data.
Plastic washes over a resting sea turtle. Every year, 8 to 12 million metric tons of plastic enters our oceans.
The Clean Currents Coalition has achieved a major milestone in the effort to turn off the tap of plastic pollution. Together, the Coalition has captured and removed over 1,000,000 kilograms of plastic waste from rivers worldwide – much of which would otherwise have found its way to the ocean.
In Panama City, Panama, CCC member Marea Verde celebrates reaching the 1,000,000 kilogram milestone at their trash wheel, Wanda Díaz.
Water hyacinth clogs the Citarum River in Indonesia, a challenge for the Citarum Repair team and many others in the CCC.
After three years of research, testing, and scaling up innovative solutions, reaching the 1,000,000-kilogram mark is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Coalition teams. Along the way, they encountered and overcame many challenges – from a global pandemic to technology adjustments to water hyacinth – to show that we can take action and make an impact in our local communities struggling in the face of the growing wave of plastic pollution.
Removing 1,000,000 kilograms of plastic waste from rivers and preventing it from reaching the ocean is a feat to be celebrated in and of itself, but the Clean Currents Coalition is doing so much more than just capturing plastic. To solve the plastic pollution problem, we have to tackle the issue on multiple fronts with a focus on upstream solutions. The ultimate goal of the Coalition is not just to divert plastic from the ocean, but for there to not be plastic to be removed from the environment in the first place.
In Nairobi, Kenya, CCC member Chemolex works with local community groups to transform riverside dumpsites into green spaces. Here, the footpath is made from paving bricks manufactured by Chemolex from the plastic they remove from rivers.
In Tijuana, Mexico, CCC member WILDCOAST used the tires they collected from Los Laureles Canyon to build a community park and soccer field for the local residents.
As a Coalition, we are proud to have reached the 1,000,000-kilogram milestone. But our work is only just beginning. There is much more plastic to capture, and systemic change is needed across all phases of the plastic lifecycle.
Waste accumulates in the Lat Phrao Canal, Bangkok, Thailand, where CCC member TerraCycle Global Foundation is trapping plastic before it reaches the ocean.
Every four hours, another 1,000,000 kilograms of plastic enters the ocean – the same as emptying 240 dump trucks into the water. Humankind has made 11 trillion kilograms of plastic since 1950. That’s equivalent to the weight of 1.1 million Eiffel Towers. Over half of that was made after 2008. By 2050, we are on pace to make over 1 trillion kilograms of plastic every year – at which point we will have made enough to cover the entire United States ankle-deep in plastic.
In this sense, 1,000,000 kilograms may seem like a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of the global plastic pollution problem. But the impact of the Clean Currents Coalition is clear – we need collective, local action as well as large systemic change to solve this crisis. The Coalition teams are making a difference in the lives of thousands of people impacted by plastic pollution in their communities. These solutions can be replicated in other communities and rivers. We can use our power as consumers to drive producers to make less plastic by using less plastic. But we also need top-down action to conquer the plastic menace. We need a strong global plastics treaty that doesn’t cut corners, and we need transformative policies that rethink our relationship with plastic.
1,000,000 kilograms is just the start of the journey for the Clean Currents Coalition.
The Clean Currents Coalition at the 2022 Coalition Symposium in Santa Barbara, California.
Ichthion's Azure System spans the Portoviejo River, where the boom pushes floating waste to the river bank to be collected and removed.
At Ichthion, we are glad to share more about our journey in Portoviejo — only this time from a different perspective: through computer vision. Once we deployed our plastic capture device, the Azure System, extensive amounts of waste of all forms were being removed from the river. With the mechanical device operating smoothly, we wanted to be sure we collected robust and accurate data about that waste being removed. Right now, we’re working on improving our initial data collection methods and building a proper dataset for our ultimate goal: an artificial intelligence (AI) object recognition algorithm. This post is all about our computer vision story.
Our computer vision journey began once we started to remove the plastic that is polluting the Portoviejo River. Our initial plan was to first classify the extracted plastics by their type to train an AI system. But, we didn’t know what we would find. At first glance, the waste we were pulling out of the river looked like random clusters of various items. But upon further inspection and continued extraction, we realized there were common items we were seeing repeatedly. With this insight we were able to create a basic classification system for most of the plastic items coming out of the river, which in turn would eventually allow our AI system to recognize items within those classifications.
Examples of the common waste items collected in the Portoviejo River
With the classification system in place, we then needed to train the AI software. To accomplish this, we collected numerous images during the first few months of the project. But, to train AI software, we need more than just images — we also need to tell the software what to look at in those images. So, we tagged the plastic items in those images based on the categories in the classification system. The next step was to create an initial database to store the tagged images that would be used in the object recognition software.
Waste items collected in the Portoviejo River and recognized by YOLO V4 on the ground
With this initial database, we trained the open-source object recognition algorithm YOLO V4 using some of the most common items found in the river. The results have been quite interesting. The images above and below show an example of waste items that were identified by the trained object recognition algorithm. As you can see, the system recognizes different types of items on the ground and on the conveyor belt of the Azure System.
YOLO V4 recognizes a plastic bag full of trash as it passes by on the Azure System conveyor belt
After training the AI system using the initial dataset, we found that we needed more information. The more images we have in our dataset, the more accurate and successful our AI system will be. To build out this improved dataset, we have been using a data augmentation process. In our data augmentation process we take an original image and transform it to create new, useful ones. We implemented this augmentation process as well as a data management system using scripts written in the flexible Python language.
Although we have amassed an initial dataset of tagged images, there is still a long way to go. To be successful, we will still need many more images. The final dataset must be built with careful consideration for all of the details presented in the images, such as the objects, the environment, and more. For this reason, we plan to use a very accurate and already established process as we improve our dataset that provides as much control as possible over the contents of the images.
As we continue to improve our AI system, or goal is to use the data for evidence-based policymaking
As our computer vision journey continues, our next steps are to evaluate the preliminary results of the AI system, continue to improve the database, and keep training the software. Then, we will iterate these steps until our AI system is recognizing items consistently and accurately. Ultimately, our goal for computer vision is to improve local policies by providing sound data for evidence-based policymaking.
Miembros de la comunidad de Picoazá en Manabí, Ecuador después de construir un balcón para disfrutar de la vista del río Portoviejo
It was December 2019 when I got the email from the Benioff Ocean Initiative with the job offer for the Clean Currents Coalition project. My heart was racing, excited to be able to work on something so positive for our planet. I had several years of experience working with plastics in the Galapagos Islands but I had never worked on rivers before. It excited me to think of them as the arteries of our planet, so incredibly valuable, serving many ecosystems, bringing nutrients from the mountains to the ocean, shaping our land and nurturing so many species and now carrying chemical pollutants and plastics.
In the Clean Currents Coalition, we were about to launch interventions in nine river systems in nine communities, working with nine innovative teams in the field cleaning those aquatic arteries. At first, everything felt abstract: I did not know who these partners and communities were. At the beginning, I had to write down the points of contact and the rivers’ names since I kept mixing them up. Little did I know how involved I was going to get with those teams, the rivers, the local problems and challenges. They became part of my life, and after a year and a half working with them I don’t need reminders: I know their names, their faces, their smiles and the way we work developing solutions together.
One of the many virtual meetings with part of the CCC team members, despite time differences in 4 continents, we make it work!
The COVID pandemic hit in 2020 and all the teams faced different challenges due to it. In-person community engagement activities had to wait, and conducting monitoring surveys with the local communities was restricted or impossible. Some teams’ communities were fully locked down, and they could not access their river intervention sites; some had to change their sites and start the arduous permitting process all over again. Importation of different parts for the plastic capture devices was not possible or at least was delayed, some suppliers went bankrupt during the pandemic, and budgets had to be adjusted. While our intervention in the rivers was delayed, plastics kept flowing every second into the ocean via those rivers, and at a seemingly accelerating rate as the use of disposable single-use plastics skyrocketed during the pandemic. It has not been easy to deal with the challenges, but it has been an excellent opportunity to see the Clean Currents Coalition’s creativity, resilience and adaptive capacity in action.
Trash and organic material stuck at the mouth of the Portoviejo River where it meets the Pacific Ocean
Marine birds at the Portoviejo river’s mouth, red mangroves in the background
A month ago I was able to meet the Coalition’s Ecuadorian team, Ichthion, in person and visit their site in Manabi province. This being my first Coalition project site visit, it was eye opening to be there, meet the community, and see the accumulation of plastics at the Portoviejo River’s mouth at the Pacific Ocean. Andres, the project manager, told me that just a couple of months ago, the team had organized a cleanup there, but sadly, now it was already covered by trash again. The “mouth” as locals call it, was swamped with plastics trapped in the mangroves where native marine birds, crustaceans, and fish live. Inland, at the work site in the town of Picoaza, Jose Miguel, the engineer, showed me around and explained the complications they have been facing. Climate change is affecting our planet already, and the Portoviejo River is no exception: the rainy season is shorter and the dry season is hotter so the river’s water level is particularly low. The mechanical part of the Azure system (Ichthion’s plastic capture device) was built and designed to work with a minimum level of water flow based on past years’ data; because of this year’s extreme drought, it’s not yet operational. This experience opened my eyes to the various details, environmental and technical, that must be addressed to launch an effective plastics intervention in rivers. But this group of professionals are committed to succeed despite the challenges. The team is evaluating solutions so when the rainy season arrives and the plastics in the canyons are washed into the river, they will be prepared. Until the necessary adjustments to the mechanical system are made, they are using a passive barrier to trap the plastics and pick up what is collected everyday by hand.
The mechanical part of the Azure system and the sorting facility Jose Miguel shows me the plansSample of plastics collected by the barrierBarrier trapping trash and organic matter, a white heron rests on it
Picoaza doesn’t have potable water nor a sewage system, and very few have internet access or even electricity. Like many of the communities in which the Clean Currents Coalition works, they are a forgotten community when it comes to basic services. During my visit, I had the opportunity to meet some of the community members and participate in an activity with them. Weeks before I arrived, there was a dumpsite right next to the Portoviejo River, but I didn’t see it since they had cleaned the area, and now they had the bamboo and tools ready to build a viewing balcony along the river and add four trash bins so they could give recycling a first try. The community, the Ichthion team, and I worked collectively for some 3 hours or so; it was over 35° C that day but the positive attitudes and jokes made the work fun.
The dumpsite next to the Portoviejo River. Photo: Courtesy of Ichthion Inc.
The dumpsite cleanedBamboo ready to build the balconyMeasuring the site to start working
After the balcony was built and the trash bins were painted and set, I saw hope in the smiling faces of the local kids and adults. Emiliano, one of the local leaders, was serving soft drinks to the thirsty volunteers, which was a welcome relief as it was pretty hot and we were all sweaty and tired. Mariela, his wife, surprised us with a local dish with plantain, peanuts and pork. She served it with coffee, and even though I’m a vegetarian, I received the dish with gratitude. Everybody shared the food and laughed at the jokes remembering the funny things that happened while we were working. Before Ichthion arrived in Picoaza, the community didn’t have trash pick up service. Ichthion’s work with other local organizations has resulted in a trash truck passing by the community twice a week. They hope this balcony and the trash bins will help them to enjoy the view of their river and develop a different relationship with that space. These small changes are making a difference for these people.
Working on the structureMaking sure the floor is stable Finishing the platformWorking together to have the bamboo structure well setNew trash bins located in front of the balcony
Working with plastics can be frustrating. It is a complex issue that is affecting the lives of humans, animals and plants around the world. I am grateful that I work for the Clean Currents Coalition, cleaning our rivers as the main gateways that carry plastics into our ocean. Unfortunately, cleaning rivers is not enough. The larger global problem of plastic pollution definitely requires integrated solutions. Governments, private sector and civil society need to get on board. Nevertheless, being there in Manabi province, working with the community, and laughing with the local kids reminded me of how powerful collaboration is. Plastic pollution won’t be solved by just one group, company or government, and no individual effort will be enough. We need to tackle it from different angles, getting organized and working together, just the way the community transformed that dumpsite into a balcony where kids can play and adults can appreciate the value and beauty of that corner of the Portoviejo River.
Selfie with the kids that were playing with a turkey!Finished platform with roof and basket to hold recycling waste
The barrier installed to capture plastics in the Portoviejo River, Ecuador.
Dear CCC readers, we are excited to post a blog update on the deployment of the Azure system in the Portoviejo River, Ecuador. Since Ichthion’s last blog post in September 2020, our project has really kicked into gear. Here is a play-by-play of the developments.
Back in December, we finished building our waste collection site (!!), which was designed to withstand the river speed and potential flooding events by incorporating a gabion wall and reinforcing the soil on the river bed slope. We also incorporated a ditch/slide-like feature where the debris accumulates to facilitate the extraction process. Once we finished the civil engineering work, we installed the barrier by January 14th and began the sampling process, relating both to the performance of the system components as well as the river’s chemical and physical conditions.
This first image is what we call the “before shot”, which shows the site as we found it
This second image shows progress on the construction, the first day we began the excavation work
The building of the retaining wall
Our “after shot”, with the installation ready to remove plastic debris from the Portoviejo River, Ecuador.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, our R&D team was hard at work with getting the 1:1 Azure system to the last round of the manufacturing process. This automated extraction system will take the work we are doing with the barrier to the next level. We also have been testing with the 1:6 system in the Medway River in Southeast England. We anxiously expect to have the Azure on-site by mid-2021.
Full-scale Azure prototype being manufactured (left). 1:6 scale Azure prototype tests, Medway River, London (right).
Back in Manabí, Ecuador, only a few weeks after the installation was complete, the winter/rainy season began. The manual operation, which is being conducted in anticipation of the arrival of the Azure extraction technology, took on a new pace. It became ever more apparent how much work we had ahead of us and just how much waste is being dumped into this river—which feeds over 700,000 people (50% of the Manabí’s province population). During the first days of the rainy season, we saw the river grow over two meters (6 ft) in one week mid-2021, and with it came a large amount of organic and inorganic material. We saw everything from traditional house waste to couches, tires, dead animals, other large home appliances, and of course different types of plastics. We also received large amounts of water hyacinth and logs, which are now affectionately referred to as the “forest” that arrives at our barrier. As we extract all kinds of waste from the river, once it is collected, we classify all the materials and deliver what can be recycled to the Portoviejo base recyclers association.
At the beginning of March, just when it seemed the rain had begun to recede, the river level continued to rise, and we experienced our first flood event. The water level increased to almost a meter above the highest point of operation. The whole province experienced flooding along with a series of related events. One of the most prominent happened just a few kilometers upstream, where a major bridge that connects the interprovincial highway helped contain a great number of logs. Had it not been for the bridge acting as a barrier detaining the logs, most of that material would have most likely reached our site. This event served as a warning for the future and the different challenges we need to prepare for.
As the manual operations continued, we were able to start programming our data collecting software with the images from [1] the extracted river waste debris, [2] the manual river bed clean-ups, [3], and from the waste mounds that can be found along the river (we are working hard to get to these before they reach the river with the community clean-ups).
One of the waste mounds that can be found along the river
In the community outreach aspect of the project, we continue with the ongoing awareness campaign on social networks. We have exceeded the goal of reaching 3,000,000 Ecuadorians online, and have currently reached 6,016,887 people. We have also reached agreements with Mingas por el Mar, an organization with environmental education expertise that will be providing classes and experiences to children and youth from the community. The pandemic forces online classes, so we will invite schools from other cities in Ecuador to join. The project is gaining more and more acceptance from the community; we reinforce the strategies to have a greater reach and recognition.
Community members participating in waste collection activities
Images of waste collection on the riverbed.
We are excited about the arrival of the system to improve the life of the Portoviejo River, its species, and the community and be the pioneers in reducing plastic pollution in Ecuador.
A panoramic view from from a hill in the Milagro commune, just a few meters from the installation site.
When I first met the Ichthion team, I was working at the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment. Due to fortuitous reasons, they walked into my office one morning and pitched their project. I later found out that they were hoping to meet with someone else, but that’s another story. Back then they were just starting operations in Ecuador but they were already a well known startup in the environmentalism arena due to the recognitions they had received from Climate-KIC and MIT.
Beyond the novelty of their reputation, I dare say it’s impossible to hear about what Ichthion is doing – developing technology to save our rivers and oceans – and to meet the team that is behind this company, and not become an immediate ally. I was sure that it was only a matter of time until they deployed a project in the country.
Herons and other birds build their homes and find nourishment around the polluted Portoviejo River. This image shows the mouth of the river towards the Pacific Ocean. The image also depicts the river during the dry season, once the rainy season begins more waste will find its way into the river.
A few months later I leaped over to the startup world and joined the Ichthion team. One of the first tasks I collaborated on was to complete the due diligence documentation for the PROTEUS project, which had been presented to the Benioff Ocean Initiative and was moving into the final stages of revision. It was an exciting time for all of us at Ichthion, both for the operations team in Ecuador and the R&D team in the UK. This deployment would be our first full sized Azure system installation.
I must admit that at that point the technological aspect of the project still escaped my understanding. I did grasp the full-picture and the key facts, but it wasn’t until the engineers presented us with the final designs for the system that I understood the potential it has to improve waste management around the world.
The Azure system, Ichthion’s river-based plastic capture technology.
The Azure system, Ichthion’s river-based technology, combines the latest research on fluvial pollution with passive fluid dynamics, probabilistic modelling and material transport. It is a barrier system designed to trap a broad spectrum of synthetic waste in most (and probably any) river around the world. The barrier is porous, preventing upstream-downstream pressure imbalance, with a set pore diameter and density to trap even small items of waste, such as cigarette filters and bottle tops. The target depth of the barrier allows fluvial fauna to pass under it and minimizes the number of microscopic organisms that can get trapped in the barrier. With a unique, tailored shape, the barrier intercepts the material, which is then directed towards extraction points, and with the help of an automated conveyor belt the waste is extracted and deposited onto receptacles that can then be transported towards adequate waste management sites. Additionally, the system implements a censoring mechanism to classify and measure the recovered material. This generates invaluable data for decision making and evidence-based policymaking. Furthermore, the system has the capacity to generate and run on its own clean energy.
As a former public official, I found that one of the most attractive features of this technology is its capacity to generate valuable data for decision making processes. The type of information we are going to be generating through our operations is a game changer in river protection and governance, which is why the provincial government was excited to join in implementing this project and finding ways to complement and scale up its benefits.
Waste collection in rural Manabi barely reaches 60%. Community members dump their waste in the ravines. When the winter comes the waste will travel into the river and end up in the Pacific Ocean.
Only a few weeks after my arrival at Ichthion, we received confirmation from BOI that our project had been one of nine selected to be part of the most important global coalition to date, fighting plastic pollution in rivers and preventing it from reaching the oceans. We were ecstatic, ready to hit the ground running, as I am sure most of the projects were. However, only a few days after signing the agreement, we learned that the world was facing a global pandemic and we entered a rigid lockdown policy, first in the UK and then in Ecuador. Here in Ecuador borders were closed, interprovincial transport was restricted and a curfew was implemented.
The Ichthion team meeting virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the weeks went by, we did our best to use the time in confinement to virtually plan for when we would be able to deploy the project. The weeks then turned into months and we knew we needed to face the fact that we might have to begin implementing the project without being able to conduct any site visits. To make that scenario work, we pulled all of our resources together and realized that collaboration was the only way to move forward. We would have to trust and rely on local partners more than we had anticipated. Thanks to the support and information provided by the local government and the national environmental authority, we were able to select a specific site for the deployment and get the operation permits. We also became very resourceful in finding information proxies in order to run the feasibility studies, and in generating new allies to help us interact with the local community without risking their health or our own.
Eventually, the restrictions slowly began to lift, and we were able to finally travel to Manabí and go visit the Portoviejo river and engage with the local authorities and community. During our first visits to the site, it was most exciting to see the river and to be able to gather more specific data to feed into the design detail. But with each visit, we got more acquainted with the community, their realities and the profound challenges they face in light of the pandemic and other pre existing circumstances. The site suddenly stopped being a generic location and is now very clearly in our everyday actions, the Milagro commune in the Picoaza parroquial rural administration of the city of Portoviejo. The people in the community are no longer a social unit in our conversations, but are now relationships and opinions and requests.
Milagro commune members showing us around the river.
The human aspect of the project is definitely becoming the most relevant one at this moment, and probably throughout the project, as well as the most challenging but most empowering as well. To watch this project slowly come to life has been one of the most rewarding professional and personal experiences. I am proud and excited to share with you, other coalition members and all of our readers, the experiences and learnings of the Ichthion team as we continue this journey to implement and deploy our Azure system in the Portoviejo River in Manabí, Ecuador. We will keep you posted on the progress we make, until our next blog we hope you’ll enjoy the content we share.
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The Blue Marble (NASA). The Amazon River Basin is the largest in the world by water volume.
Where rivers flow, life is found. Like veins in our bodies, rivers carry water and nutrients across our planet, allowing both human civilization and nature to flourish. But rivers also act as one of the main conduits of plastic waste into the environment – the arteries that carry waste from land to the ocean. And as we clog these arteries with plastic, we threaten the health of our planet.
In our first blog, we introduced our solution to the challenge of river plastic waste: the Clean Currents Coalition. The heart and soul of the Clean Currents Coalition are the 9 innovative and dedicated teams across the world working tirelessly to make an impact on their communities, river systems, and ultimately, the ocean.
We are excited to introduce to you the 9 amazing teams of the Clean Currents Coalition, in their own words…
Greeneration Foundation, Citarum River, Indonesia
“Our Indonesian-Finnish partnership includes Greeneration Foundation, Waste4Change and RiverRecycle, working to intercept plastic waste in the Citarum River before it enters the Java Sea. The Citarum River is the largest and longest river in West Java, supporting 25 million people and 22% of the West Java area.
The Greeneration Foundation, Waste4Change, and RiverRecycle teams discussing plans for the Citarum River. (Photo: Greeneration Foundation)
“With our capture system, we aim to collect 70 tons of waste per day. All recyclables will be recycled responsibly while low value waste will be processed using pyrolysis technology. Simultaneously, we will conduct communications and outreach aimed to improve awareness toward more responsible waste management. Once this pilot project is successful, we hope to replicate and disseminate our work in other parts of the world.”
“Our mission is to protect, restore, and create a safe future for the ocean’s fauna and flora using cutting edge technology. In partnership with the Circular Foundation, the Provincial Government of Manabí, and Impact Recycling, we are deploying the Azure System® to intercept plastics in the Portoviejo River. This interception system combines physical recovery, power generation systems, and gathering of essential data for decision-making and improving municipal waste management systems.
The Ichthion team in a virtual “Zoom” meeting – one of the many adaptations the Clean Currents Coalition teams have made to continue having an impact during a global crisis. (Photo: Ichthion)
“As the Portoviejo River travels through the Manabí province, inadequately managed waste finds its way to the water. This contamination not only affects the river’s ecosystem but also travels directly into the Pacific Ocean, affecting dozens of species and sensitive marine ecosystems such as the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Being a part of the Clean Currents Coalition is a great honor that is enabling us to deploy our technology to help one of the most impoverished communities in Ecuador and one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the world. This project will also serve as a catalyst for us to continue deploying other projects in the region and into other regions with similar plastic waste conditions.”
“At Marea Verde, a Panamanian nonprofit established in 2017, we address river and coastal pollution through civic action and innovative technological solutions. We work in the Matías Hernández watershed with projects in environmental education, beach and mangrove cleanups, and a floating barrier to capture waste flowing down the river.
Marea Verde team members remove waste trapped by their floating barrier system in the Matías Hernández River, Panama City. (Photo: Marea Verde)
“As part of the Clean Currents Coalition we will work with urban communities upriver, understand their waste behavior and the incentives that could drive behavior change. We will also upgrade our capture system similar to Baltimore Bay’s Mr. Trash Wheel. A diverse and professional team has come together for this project, including Baltimore’s Clearwater Mills, Panama’s Technological University, and Wisy, an AI startup. We are excited and look forward to an enriching experience and active exchange among Coalition members during this journey.”
“The Foundation is excited to share the learnings from this comprehensive river cleanup initiative with the Clean Currents Coalition members as we work together to identify and implement new and innovative approaches to tackle the issues of marine plastics in our rivers.”
“The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, is collaborating with the Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ) to deploy an Interceptor in a multi-year project at Sandy Gully in the heart of Kingston Harbour, Jamaica.
The Ocean Cleanup founder, Boyan Slat, aboard an Interceptor in Malaysia. (Photo: The Ocean Cleanup)
“While The Ocean Cleanup provides the technology, RPJ will operate the Interceptor and ensure the environmentally sound disposal of all collected plastics and materials. Key focus will also be placed on a robust communication and community education program that will encourage proper waste disposal and active recycling cultures. The highly visible location, which is vital to Jamaica’s tourism industry, will reaffirm the country’s strong commitment to protecting the environment and arm it with new capabilities to address the challenge. This project will be one of the first in The Ocean Cleanup’s mission to tackle the 1000 heaviest polluting rivers in the world.
“Being part of the Clean Currents Coalition is a great way to exchange ideas, experiences and best practices in dealing with plastic waste in rivers around the world, and will provide an excellent platform to demonstrate the importance of addressing rivers in solving the ocean plastic problem.”
“The Song Hong (Red River) weaves through northern Vietnam, ending in the coastal province of Nam Dinh. At the river’s mouth is a RAMSAR site–Xuan Thuy National Park–which boasts rich migratory bird habitat and mangroves that support local fisheries. Unfortunately, it’s under threat by plastic waste. A 2019 study conducted by Ocean Conservancy and partners indicates a negative relationship between the quantity of marine debris in the park and mangrove health.
The Ocean Conservancy team on the Song Hong. (Photo: Ocean Conservancy)
“To help reduce the pressure on this vital ecosystem, Ocean Conservancy has teamed up with a leading Vietnamese NGO, the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD), to install five river plastic capture devices at several waste hotspots in Nam Dinh. The team will also measure the impact of the traps with Dr. Chelsea Rochman (University of Toronto), and work with political leaders at all levels to help drive improvements in the waste management and recycling systems. Building on our International Coastal Cleanup, our team will work to engage the public in reducing ocean-bound plastic. Through the Clean Currents Coalition we’re excited to exchange lessons learned with other groups tackling similar problems.”
“At Renew Oceans we believe clean oceans begin with clean rivers. We are working to reduce ocean plastic waste where it begins – in populous, river-adjacent communities.
Sorting through waste collected and removed from the Assi River, a tributary of the Ganges River in the holy city of Varanasi, India. (Photo: Renew Oceans)
“Our inaugural project Renew Ganga is located along the Assi River, a tributary of the Ganges River (Ganga in Hindi). Renew Ganga employs a 3 C approach – collection of land and river-based plastics, conversion of that plastic into fuel or recycled material, and community engagement, awareness building, and behavior change. Though behavior change and awareness doesn’t happen overnight, our team is dedicated to working alongside waste pickers, policymakers, educators, and volunteers to continually reduce river plastic waste in the Assi. We are excited to be part of the Clean Currents Coalition and join a global network of organizations working collaboratively to eliminate river plastic waste.”
“The Clean Currents Coalition is a great way to exchange ideas, experiences and best practices in dealing with plastic waste in rivers around the world, and will provide an excellent platform to demonstrate the importance of addressing rivers in solving the ocean plastic problem.“
“Chemolex Company is a fast-growing social enterprise based in Nairobi, Kenya. We have partnered with Smart Villages Research Group to develop and install innovative plastic capture devices at strategic locations within River Athi and its tributaries such as River Nairobi, Ngong and Mbagathi.
A boom is installed in the Nairobi River to collect data on plastic waste and hydrological conditions to develop a capture device suited to the river site. (Photo: Chemolex Company)
“With this project, we hope to stop the existing marine plastic waste problem that is fed by the vast amounts of plastic waste in the upstream sections of River Athi. By installing these devices, we will also be able to obtain data and scientific information on river plastic waste. These data will be utilized in developing policy documents and undertaking comprehensive awareness campaigns in Kenya’s urban informal settlements that release up to 2,000 tons of waste on a daily basis. The outreach programs will be centered on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), to help enable sustainable plastic waste management in Kenya. In addition, an average of 10 tons of plastic waste collected from the various river segments will be used to produce affordable and effective construction materials such as fencing poles, tiles and pavement blocks. To maximize the social impacts of this project, we are partnering with community based organizations (CBOs) and women and youth groups in managing the plastic capture devices. These groups will be trained on how to develop sustainable enterprises within the waste management sector.”
“The TerraCycle Global Foundation is building upon an existing partnership with its Thai-based affiliated partner, the TerraCycle Thai Foundation and local environmental NGO, the Blue Carbon Society, to implement a community-focused marine plastic capture system and communication initiative in the Lat Phrao Canal in Bangkok. This waterway traverses a densely populated, low income canal community with more than 100,000 residents and is an integral link in Bangkok’s extensive canal system connected to the Chao Phraya River, Thailand’s longest and most polluted river which empties directly into the Gulf of Thailand. The Foundation is excited to share the learnings from this comprehensive river cleanup initiative with the Clean Currents Coalition members as we work together to identify and implement new and innovative approaches to tackle the issues of marine plastics in our rivers.”
In a Bangkok canal, waste is funneled to a collection basket where it is removed and repurposed by the TerraCycle team. (Photo: TerraCycle Global Foundation)
“With offices on both sides of the US-Mexico border, WILDCOAST and our partners are directly affected by Tijuana-generated plastics and tires that are transported by the binational Tijuana River into coastal areas that eventually enter the Pacific Ocean. In Tijuana, uncollected plastics and chronic illegal dumping in canyons and ravines along the river contribute significantly to marine pollution on both sides of the border. This pollution impacts fragile ecosystems and wildlife as well as public health. Currently, the only plastics-intercepting infrastructure is located in the US. It is imperative to build matching infrastructure in Mexico to address the problem closer to the source. We are very excited to have the support of the Clean Currents Coalition, which will allow us to remedy this issue.”
Tires and other forms of waste are removed from a creek bed during a river cleanup led by WILDCOAST. (Photo: WILDCOAST)
Hungry for more about these innovative teams and the rivers that inspire them? Check back in over the next few weeks as we let the Clean Currents Coalition teams themselves take the blogging stage to share their own stories from the riverbank.
The blowout of Union Oil’s Platform A released 3 million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean, coating 800 sq. miles of ocean and killing thousands of seabirds, marine mammals, and fish. It is the third largest oil spill in the history of the United States, behind only the BP Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez spills. (Photo: Santa Barbara Maritime Museum/Dick Smith Collection)
On January 28, 1969, catastrophe struck. When an offshore oil platform off the California coast experienced a blow-out, over 3 million gallons of crude oil gushed into the Pacific Ocean. But while a black tide smothered the coastline, a green tide rose in the small California seaside town of Santa Barbara and quickly spread across the globe. In 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated. Today it is the largest secular observance in the world, engaging over 1 billion people in 192 countries.
Fifty years later, the penchant for sparking global action remains strong in Santa Barbara. The Benioff Ocean Initiative, based at the University of California Santa Barbara, channels that spirit of global action to tackle the most pressing issues facing our ocean. Only now the focus has shifted to a new environmental problem: plastics.
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus, home to the Benioff Ocean Initiative at the Marine Science Institute. (Photo: Marine Science Institute, UCSB).
Plastics are remarkable materials. They are strong, durable, flexible, and easy to produce. From their use in cars and electronics to food packaging and healthcare, plastics are ubiquitous in modern life. Since 1950, over 7.8 billion tons of new plastics have been produced – the equivalent of 1 ton for every person currently living on Earth.
Of those 7.8 billion tons, only 9% have ever been recycled.
Some have been incinerated (12%), but the vast majority remain overflowing in landfills and accumulating in the environment. And once they are in the environment, the ultimate fate of many plastics is the ocean. Every year, up to 12 million tons of plastics enter the ocean. It is predicted that by 2050 there will be more plastics in the ocean by weight than fish.
While some plastics — like fishing gear — enter the ocean directly, most are transported from land, much of which is via rivers. Up to 275 tons of plastics enter the ocean from rivers every hour.
Because of this, rivers offer a unique opportunity to fight the plastics crisis. In the ocean, plastics are carried to hard-to-reach places like the open ocean, down the water column, and to the sea floor. Rivers, on the other hand, are accessible, relatively shallow, and act as point sources of plastics. To turn off the tap of plastics entering the ocean, rivers are a great place to start.
Theoretical design of a river plastic capture device. Floating booms guide plastic waste to collection points.
With this knowledge, the Benioff Ocean Initiative and The Coca-Cola Foundation have partnered to create and support a global network of innovative, mission-driven problem solvers: the Clean Currents Coalition.
Consisting of 9 teams in 9 different countries, the Clean Currents Coalition is combating the flow of plastic waste from rivers to the ocean. The interdisciplinary teams of the Clean Currents Coalition are developing new and innovative technologies to capture plastic waste in highly-polluted rivers and to repurpose and recycle the collected materials.
But the intervention doesn’t stop there. While there are many noble plastics clean up efforts underway around the world, the Clean Currents Coalition is taking it one step further. Through extensive data collection and pioneering the use of new technologies like artificial intelligence, we are compiling a standardized, global dataset of plastic waste in the environment to better inform scientific research and management strategies. The teams are also working closely with their local communities to create real change surrounding policy, infrastructure, and behavior related to plastic waste. Our goal is that one day, thanks to the Clean Currents Coalition, there will no longer be plastic waste in our rivers to remove.
The Clean Currents Coalition consists of 9 teams working in 9 countries: Ecuador (Portoviejo River), India (Assi River), Indonesia (Citarum River), Jamaica (Kingston Harbor), Kenya (Nairobi & Athi Rivers), Mexico (Tijuana River), Panama (Matías Hernández River), Thailand (Lat Phrao Canal), and Vietnam (Song Hong River).
Today, each Clean Currents Coalition team is working in one community on one river system. But together, through collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and a common goal, our ambition is to use what we learn and help replicate these successes to more and more river communities around the world. We are taking the lead on global action to fight a global problem.
Join us on the journey of the Clean Currents Coalition. Follow us on this blog as we share the unique stories of these rivers and their communities as they work towards cleaner currents.
