Environmental Partnership in Thailand Continues: Education Offensive for Schools
- Audi Environmental Foundation and the green start-up everwave have been committed to clean rivers since 2021
- The aim is to establish sustainable structures for waste prevention and recycling in Bangkok together with local partners
- An education program for schoolchildren supports ongoing efforts to depollute large rivers and build waste processing infrastructure
Sustainability begins in the mind. The Audi Environmental Foundation, the Ferry Porsche Foundation, the Bentley Environmental Foundation and the green start-up everwave are convinced of this. With an innovative educational initiative for schools in Bangkok, the quartet is raising awareness of sustainable action. The program complements the environmental partnership's cleanup activities launched in 2023. The aim is to reduce the inflow of garbage into the Chao Phraya River via its side channels, to permanently clear the water of waste and to establish a stable garbage processing infrastructure around the Thai capital.
The approach of the education offensive: Learning by doing. Right at the start of the project, school classes got involved in a cleanup operation along the Phasi Charoen canal. The canal flows into the Chao Phraya, which flows into the Gulf of Thailand 35 kilometers west of Bangkok. Every year around 385 tons of waste flows through the river into the ocean.
Back in the classroom, students then set up their own recycling system for their school. The young people learn about the waste cycle and the dangers of plastic waste in a playful way. This not only promotes entrepreneurial thinking, but also makes the school environment a cleaner place. The local non-governmental organization TerraCycle Global Foundation accompanies this process for a year and coaches student teams and teachers.
New on board: Bentley Environmental Foundation
As early as 2023, the Audi Environmental Foundation and the Ferry Porsche Foundation, together with everwave, began building sustainable structures for waste prevention and recycling in Bangkok. The trio will be reinforced this year by the newly founded Bentley Environmental Foundation. With their initiative, the project partners want to draw attention to the fact that rivers act as “plastic highways”: carelessly thrown away garbage is blown into the water and thus ends up in the open sea.
In addition to the program for schools, the environmental partnership continues to support the use of the smart waste collection boat CollectiX and the construction of new sorting and processing facilities.
Using drones, cameras and artificial intelligence, everwave tracks down and collects garbage patches. With the aim of transporting up to 20 tonnes of rubbish per month from the side canals. TerraCycle Global Foundation employees sort the garbage and process it further.
“Last year, 66,000 kilograms of garbage were fished out of the water,” reports Clemens Feigl, CEO of everwave. Additionally, four full-time jobs were created on site and six barriers were erected in the canal to stop the flow of waste. Feigl: “If things go well, the Chao Phraya and its secondary canals can be garbage-free in ten to twenty years.”
About everwave:
everwave cleans up the environment: garbage boats are used to prevent waste from entering the oceans. Artificial intelligence assists in the clean-up missions to detect and analyse waste. The collected material is then recycled through environmentally friendly processes and, in addition, the public is made aware of environmental issues. The start-up is organizing long-term and holistic Clean-up Projects e.g. in Thailand, Romania or Cambodia to ensure clean waters. Until today everwave has already collected over 1.4 million tonnes of waste from rivers. More information online at https://everwave.de/en/
About Bentley Environmental Foundation:
Founded in 2023, the Bentley Environmental Foundation is committed to one of humanity's most important challenges: preserving and regenerating the planet for future generations. That's why the Foundation works with globally recognized non-governmental organizations and charities to create ecological change through collaborative and transformative environmental projects.
About the Ferry Porsche Foundation:
Founded in 2018, the Ferry Porsche Foundation supports and initiates charitable projects in social affairs, environment, education and academics, culture and sports. Above all, the Foundation aims to support young people through social engagement at the company locations of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Its name comes from Ferry Porsche, who founded the sports car manufacturer Porsche in 1948. More information online http://www.ferry-porsche-stiftung.de/
About the Audi Environmental Foundation:
The Audi Environmental Foundation is an active supporter of research in new technologies and scientific methods for a livable future. Its declared aim is to help protect the environment and to create and promote opportunities for sustainable action. The foundation focuses in particular on the support and development of environmentally compatible technologies, on measures for environmental education, and on the protection of the natural resources for humans, animals, and plants. Established by AUDI AG in 2009 as a fully owned subsidiary, the foundation is a part of the company’s social and environmental policy involvement.
