The SeaCleaners tackles the scourge of plastic pollution in Indonesian waters

The SeaCleaners tackles the scourge of plastic pollution in Indonesian

In Indonesia, the NGO The Sea Cleaners launches its plastic pollution control program on Monday 20 March. First step in Bali, where the operation is set up with the collaboration of public authorities, associations and local actors.

With our correspondent in Southeast Asia, Juliette Pietraszewski

LONG The Seacleanerswill make its boat called Mobula 8 available to Indonesia. Its main function: to collect microparticles, plastic macro-waste and hydrocarbons. The waste is thus recovered before reaching the ocean.

With 10m3 capacity, the boat will be able to remain at sea all day, with on board a crew made up of locals trained for this mission. Antoine Iché is the project coordinator. He has been in Bali for two months to launch the operation:

The complexity is that we cannot give our tools, our depollution boats, to the countries like that without helping them, without explaining to them how it works and without providing them with maintenance and management support. So here, in Indonesia, we provide this support to launch operations and demonstrate that it is possible to clean the oceans with a boat like ours. »

The operation will also allow scientific research, explains Yvan Bourgnon, the president of The Sea Cleaners :

One of the major subjects is the understanding, the knowledge of this pollution. Our scientists tell us all the time that they are helpless, that they have no data. As we are one of the first major fundraising initiatives, they are asking for it. These scientists want to be present on site. The more knowledge we have, the better our future collections will be. »

As a reminder, Indonesia has five of the 20 most polluted rivers in the world. The depollution program is rather well received by the government, Jakarta wishing to reduce its plastic pollution by 70% in 2025. 75% of the plastic in the oceans come from poor waste management in Asian countries, explains the NGO again.

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