One Earth – One Ocean e.V. cooperates with Schwarz Group – Joint river cleaning project on Java/Indonesia

There is much to do…

The industrial metropolis Bekasi, about 40 kilometers southeast of Jakarta’s center, has about 2.9 million inhabitants (2018) and is located in one of the areas with the highest environmental pollution in Indonesia. Bantar Gebang is Indonesia’s largest garbage dump, to which most of the waste from Jakarta has been transported since the beginning of the 1990s. The surrounding area is also home to the Citarum, allegedly the “world’s dirtiest river”, which is polluted mainly by chemicals from textile factories, but also by household waste and other waste. “Since there is neither a regulated waste collecting infrastructure nor running water, the river became not only a source of water for the residents, but also a dump. (…) In 2016, Greenpeace and other environmental groups joined forces and filed a class action suit against the Indonesian Ministry of the Environment. (…) In 2018, Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised that the Citarum would be restored to its original, healthy state within the next seven years. In 2025 the water should even be drinkable again. Nevertheless, until today the residents are only informed with simple signs that they are not allowed to dispose of household waste in the Citarum – and only a few adhere to the ban. This will not change until the authorities set up a proper garbage collection system.”. (1) Also the Cikeas River in Benkasi is extremely polluted with garbage and chemicals.

Marine litter cleanup

It is no longer necessary to emphasise that plastic waste in the waters of the world is one of the most serious environmental problems of our global society. It is estimated that over 140 million tonnes of plastic waste are already in the world’s oceans and that at least 10-15 million tonnes are added every year. Forecasts predict that by 2025 the amount of maritime waste will have doubled. The global annual damage caused by plastic waste in water is estimated by the UN at USD 13 billion. Long-term effects and consequential damage to humans, animals and ecosystems, especially from microplastics in the food chain, are not yet taken into account.

The non-profit organization One Earth – One Ocean e.V. (OEOO), based in Munich and Kiel/Germany, has therefore been developing its concept of “marine litter cleanup” for the collection of plastic waste from inland waters and oceans since 2011. The concept of ” marine litter cleanup” provides for a fleet of special workboats with conveying equipment for collecting plastic waste in rivers, estuaries and coastal sea regions. The smallest unit of the “marine litter cleanup” are so-called ‘SeeHamster’, small catamarans about four meters long and two meters wide and a fold-down metal ramp with which plastic waste from rivers and inland waters is collected. In the meantime, the fifth improved generation of SeeHamster ships is already in operation; they have been in service in Germany and Cambodia so far and will now also be used in the project in Indonesia.

One Earth – One Ocean e. V. (OEOO)

The environmental organisation One Earth – One Ocean e.V. (OEOO), based in Munich-Garching and Kiel, aims to free water from plastic waste, oil and other pollutants. Already today the pollution of the seas with plastic waste has reached alarming proportions. If we do not take countermeasures, the weight of plastic waste will exceed that of fish by 2050, according to a UN study.

OEOO has therefore been working since 2011 on the implementation and testing of its pilot concept for “marine litter cleanup”. The founder of OEOO is Günther Bonin, former owner of a successful IT company and a passionate sailor since his youth. His concept is divided into several stages: In a first step, the plastic waste is collected by special collection ships on waterways. Sorting and bundling of the waste takes place on board a converted multi-purpose freighter, recycling is carried out by disposers on land. Recyclable plastics are pressed into single-variety plastic bales. Plastic waste is also to be converted into energy and oil in the future.

What initially sounded like an idealist’s utopia is now taking on concrete forms. Collection ships of various sizes are now in operation in the Baltic Sea, Hong Kong and Cambodia. A feasibility study for the SeeElefant pilot system was presented in spring 2019 and is to be completed by 2021. Well-known companies and private individuals, including Röchling Stiftung GmbH, Schwarz Group, Deutsche Telekom AG and Daimler AG, support OEOO in different ways.

In 2013, OEOO was awarded the renowned GreenTec Award, Europe’s largest environmental and business prize, for its marine litter cleanup concept. In 2016, it was nominated for the first time for the German Bundespreis ecodesign, the highest award for ecological design in Germany. In 2018, the association was nominated for the Ocean Tribute Award by Prince Albert II of Monaco, which honours the most innovative and sustainable ideas on marine conservation. In 2019 Günther Bonin/OEOO received the Special Prize of the Gruner & Jahr Spa Award as well as the German Bundespreis ecodesign for its SeeElefant concept.

www.oneearth-oneocean.com

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(1)  Source: https://www.vice.com/de/article/vb98b8/ich-habe-acht-jahre-lang-den-schmutzigsten-fluss-der-welt-fotografiert