Photo: Kia
Kia have announced plans to use recycled plastic from a 55-ton haul recently reclaimed from the Pacific Ocean in its new EV models.
The record-breaking amount of plastic was reclaimed by Kia’s global partner, The Ocean Cleanup. The partnership between the two back in April 2022 came as part of Kia’s promised transformation into a leading sustainable mobility solutions provider.
Charles Ryu, Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Brand & CX Division at Kia Corp., said:
“The record catch of plastic brought to shore by The Ocean Cleanup is tangible proof of how technology can deliver sustainable solutions at scale.
“Initiatives such as this one perfectly align with Kia’s transition to a sustainable mobility solutions provider and our Plan S strategy, through which we embrace the needs of our customers and the protection of our environment by acting as a responsible corporate citizen.”
The Ocean Cleanup, is an international non-profit project with the mission of ridding the oceans of plastic. The group landed its record-breaking plastic catch at Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. The plastic was removed from the Pacific Ocean using The Ocean Cleanup’s System 002 extraction technology following a voyage through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).
Recycling of the plastic will begin shortly, and Kia will use a proportion of the material in future models. This policy aligns with Kia’s commitment to provide sustainable mobility solutions that have a measurable impact on achieving sustainability at scale.
The Ocean Cleanup develops and deploys large-scale systems to concentrate plastic in the ocean for periodic removal. The plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor Solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean.
