Kia Corporation and its global partner The Ocean Cleanup are today celebrating a major milestone in their strategy to tackle plastic pollution in the world's oceans. Symbolically returning to the port of San Francisco, where the first-generation System 001 vessel began its maiden voyage six years ago, The Ocean Cleanup's current System 03 completed a major export.
Since the start of their partnership in 2022, Kia's support has helped The Ocean Cleanup remove over one million kilograms of plastic from the world's largest accumulation of floating debris - the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) - which is estimated to cover an area of 1.6 million square kilometres.
In an important step towards achieving its mission to rid the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup has announced a clear timeline for cleaning up the GPGP. While data gathered during this year's operations suggests that the GPGP could be cleaned up in 10 years thanks to technological improvements that have been identified, the global NGO is setting new targets and aims to reduce the cleanup time to five years.
Charles Ryu, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Brand & CX Division of Kia Corporation, said: "Everyone in Kia we express our warmest congratulations to the team of The Ocean Cleanup for its continued dedication and hard work, as the only organisation actively tackling plastic pollution in the GPGP. We are honored to be key supporters of ocean clean-up activities and look forward to an even more ambitious future in our partnership, as the system System 03 and businesses are improving to reduce the cleaning schedule."
In 2025, The Ocean Cleanup will focus on developing a new "hotspot identification" initiative designed to map hotspots, i.e. areas of heavy plastic accumulation in the GPGP, in order to increase the efficiency of future exports.
"Η The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization and our business is based on our incredible partnerships.", said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. "Our cooperation with Kia sets a new standard for how organisations can drive real change. Together, we are proving that innovation and commitment can rid the oceans of plastic and inspire others to follow. The products born from this collaboration will symbolize our shared progress and the tangible impact of sustainable solutions."
For the past two and a half years, Kia and The Ocean Cleanup have been working together to reduce plastic pollution. In its first six years of operation, The Ocean Cleanup made 23 operational trips and completed more than 100 plastic export missions. These efforts have removed more than one million pounds of litter, addressing approximately 0.5% of additional plastic pollution in the GPGP.
As part of a collaborative vision to create a circular resource system for ocean plastic, Kia and The Ocean Cleanup are working together to find new ways to turn the plastic waste extracted from the GPGP into durable, useful products. The first product from this initiative, a car accessory for the Kia EV3, will be released in the fourth quarter of this year.
Kia also incorporates other recycled plastics and eco-friendly materials in its latest models. This includes Kia's top-of-the-line all-electric SUV, the EV9, which uses recycled fishing nets in the interior carpet and recycled plastic bottles in the seat fabric. The EV6 also features fabrics and mattresses made from recycled plastics.
To support its broader vision of becoming a leader in sustainable mobility, Kia aims to use 20% of recycled plastics in its cars by 2030.
