Seven Clean Seas, a British-founded environmental organisation, is proud to announce a significant achievement in its mission to combat global plastic pollution. Since its inception in July 2020, Seven Clean Seas has successfully removed a staggering 2,206,079 kilograms of plastic waste from the world's oceans through a total of 1,886 cleanup efforts.
Put into perspective, this is the equivalent of 184 double decker busses, which when lined up, would stretch from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Seven Clean Seas is on a mission to make our oceans cleaner and healthier. Their ambitious goal is to remove 10 million kilograms of plastic waste from the ocean by 2025, while also providing sustainable livelihoods for the 200 workers involved in the cleanup operations
The organisation's dedication to its goal is reflected in its current pace, with over 160,000 kilograms of plastic being removed from the ocean each month. This commitment to ongoing plastic removal efforts highlights the urgency in addressing the global plastic pollution crisis.
The composition and weight of the collected plastic waste reveals the diverse sources of ocean pollution that Seven Clean Seas is addressing, from Polyester textiles (36%), personal care items (9%), sandals (5%) product packaging (8%) and plastic bags (8%), to food wrapping (3%), plastic cups & plates (2%) and plastic drinks bottles (1%).
Seven Clean Seas' efforts to remove plastic from the oceans not only contribute to cleaner seas, but also works tirelessly to promote sustainable practices and environmental awareness. This includes the prevention of plastic from entering the environment, as well as increasing the value of other plastic waste to significantly improve the long-term health prospects of local residents. For example, transforming low-value ocean plastic pollution into durable roof tiles to replace asbestos tiles widely used in coastal communities, as well as turning nonrecyclable LDPE materials (like low density polyethylene rubbish bags) into durable corrugated plastic roof plates.
Seven Clean Seas is also succeeding in influencing behavioral change within communities who are keen to keep their ecosystems clean through Village-led waste collections. They are also working with schools to educate on the scale of the problem and how to prevent plastic pollution in the future. Food chains are being restored with fish returning to previously stilted communities. Fair wages and job opportunities for remote islanders, especially women and older generations, has brought socio-economic growth as has knowledge and skills-based training for transition into other industries such as tourism.
Tom, Peacock-Nazil, Founder of Seven Clean Seas commented: “We are over the moon to have reached this incredible milestone and remain resolute in our mission of removing 10 million kg of plastic from our oceans by 2025 as well as creating permanent change in the seven most polluted areas of the world.”
Seven Clean Seas are also helping other responsible brands in reducing their plastic consumption as well as collaborating with them on a number of clean-up projects. The collaboration with the Soulfresh Group contributed to removing more than 1.300.000 PET bottles from the marine environment.
Didi Lo, Founder of Soulfresh Group (Lo Bros Not soda) said: “In embarking on this project, we knew that having the right partner would be crucial. It was a non-negotiable that our impact partner needed to both have a shared vision for change, but also the ability to deliver on our commitments at scale.
When we first met Tom and Ben from Seven Clean Seas we knew we were onto something special. Much like us, they were energetic and proactive with an insatiable passion and drive to fix the problems of plastic in our rivers, oceans and marine life. Overlaid onto this was their approach to ethically running their business, paying above minimum wage to all employees (unlike most other collection organisations).”
Hayley Langston, Head of Social Impact at Howden Group also commented: “What began with a beach clean-up in Singapore has grown to become a very important global partnership. To date, Seven Clean Seas has helped us prevent over 250,000kgs of plastic from reaching our oceans. We work with the team to estimate our global plastic footprint and to offset the equivalent, and, importantly, they’re helping us to reduce our plastic footprint through presentations and other brilliant educational resources. In the past year, they have helped us to achieve the Ocean Bound Plastic Neutral Certification for our headquarters – something we’re really proud of.”
Anne Marie Kindberg, Chief Revenue Officer, Lunar also remarked: "Seven Clean Seas was chosen for their expertise and strong track record in fighting ocean plastic pollution. The collaboration aligns with Lunar's commitment to combat the global issue of plastic pollution in the oceans, which is closely tied to the climate crisis. Together with our users we've removed about 55,000 kg of plastic. Lunar remains committed to this partnership and Project Blue initiative to make a real impact in the fight against ocean pollution."