Beverage company Lo Bros says its impact-led drinks brand Not Soda has removed 34,000 kilograms of plastic from the ocean around Batam and Bintan islands in Indonesia, some of the worst affected areas globally when it comes to ocean plastic. The haul is equivalent in weight to one million plastic bottles.
Los Bros said the clean-up was the first chapter in a large-scale clean-up by Not Soda. Last year it joined forces with independent supermarkets Drakes and Richies and pledged to clean up two million plastic bottles from the ocean by 2025.
Lo Bros also pledged independently to remove the equivalent weight of five million plastic bottles in ocean plastic (17,000 kilograms) from the seas by 2025. Current progress has put the soft drink brand ahead of schedule.
For every can of Lo Bros Not Soda sold, Lo Bros funds the removal of the equivalent weight of two plastic soft drink bottles from marine environments through its partnership with Seven Clean Seas. Not Soda funds the removal of the equivalent weight of two plastic bottles, but the plastic removed encompasses all forms of ocean plastic in the area.
With the weight of a plastic bottle (a 375ml plastic soft drink bottle and cap) 17 grams, Seven Clean Seas removes 34 grams of plastic for every 375ml can of Not Soda sold.
The Batam and Bintan sites were selected due to the severity – and worsening – levels of plastic pollution and the lack of adequate waste management infrastructure.
The recovered ocean plastic is sent for sorting, separating, and classification at Seven Clean Sea’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). From there it is recycled and repurposed into the circular economy or sent for secondary processing.
R&D is also conducted on recovered ocean plastic to improve recycling methods.
Lo Bros founder Didi Lo said it was critical to acknowledge the achievement, but to also recognise how far there is to go to remove all plastic from the oceans.
“Plastic pollution continues to rise and disadvantaged nations remain the ones bearing the brunt of this issue. Seven Clean Seas, with the aid of Not Soda, has done exceptionally well to reach this goal of recovering the equivalent weight of one million plastic bottles from these waterways,” said Lo.
Lo Bros is a Net Zero Plastic Brand, through its partnership with Plastic Collective.
While Lo Bros stands firmly against single-use plastic bottles, the audit by Plastic Collective measured the company’s own plastic footprint globally, including all packaging, warehousing and freight, bottle cap seals and pallet wrap.
The audit findings have caused Lo Bros to implement a reduction plan for the amount of plastic used, as well as all unavoidable plastic being offset through Plastic Collective.
