Audi launches cleanup initiative with BABOR and everwave

The Audi Environmental Foundation, German cosmetics manufacturer BABOR and green start-up everwave have joined forces to combat the worldwide pollution of rivers with plastic waste.

The three partners are planning a joint initiative for 2021 with several projects spread throughout the year. These include information events, projects at the sites of the participating partners, and cleanup activities at various locations.

To kick off the program, everwave's CollectiX waste collection boat will collect waste floating in the river Danube in Germany. BABOR and the Audi Environmental Foundation are supporting the use of this boat.

"Water is the basis of all life and absolutely worth protecting. Clean bodies of water, seas and rivers must be our shared priority," said Rudiger Recknagel, Managing Director of the Audi Environmental Foundation. Several million tons of plastic reach our oceans each year, much of it from rivers.

A study commissioned by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warned in 2016 that plastic in the oceans may one day outweigh fish. The green startup everwave from Aachen, Germany aims to counter this global challenge and, with the Audi Environmental Foundation and BABOR, has found partners that share this vision.