Fighting Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans PreZero and WWF extend their partnership until 2025
Neckarsulm/Frankfurt, October 6, 2020. Since 2015, waste and recycling management company PreZero and WWF have been working together to protect our oceans. They extended their successful partnership on September 21 for another five years, until 2025, during a joint Baltic Sea cruise to remove ghost nets from the coast of the Rügen Island. “Plastic waste in our oceans is one of the greatest environmental problems of our time. We need to take urgent action to prevent our oceans from plastic choking our oceans. PreZero is our corporate partner who is fighting at our side to protect the seas and establish a holistic and strategic approach to tackle the causes of plastic waste. With a package that includes immediate measures in on-site projects as well as strategic approaches, we are pursuing the common goal of drastically reducing the entry of plastic waste into the oceans,” said Dr. Martin Bethke, Executive Officer Markets & Business for WWF Germany. According to estimates by WWF Poland, between 5,000 and 10,000 nets or partial nets from coastal fisheries in the Baltic Sea end up in the water per year, endangering sea life and the marine environment.
The ghost nets are localized using a sonar device and then brought up by divers. “It is very impressive to see the great efforts made on the part of divers and the entire ship crew to recover the ghost nets. We want to undertake further joint projects with WWF to protect our environment and to expand our collaboration to other countries and regions as well,” said Thomas Sroka, Director of PreZero Poland, talking about his visit to the Baltic Sea mission. In addition to the WWF projects “Removal of ghost nets from the Baltic Sea” and a model project to avoid plastic waste in Vietnam, PreZero is also now supporting start-up of another project to combat the causes of plastic waste in Thailand. “We have been supporting the ghost net project in the Baltic for a long time. It has a special meaning for us. At the same time we also want to offer help and support where people and nature are particularly impacted by environmental pollution and at the same time, contribute our specific know-how in the area of waste and recycling management,” added Stephan Garvs, Director of PreZero Germany. PreZero’s commitment to fighting plastic pollution is part of REset Plastic, the Schwarz Group’s overarching plastic strategy. In addition, PreZero supports WWF at the political level in its call for a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution in our oceans and improve waste management. “The flood of plastic in our oceans is a global problem that can only be solved by international, collaborative efforts. WWF is thus calling for a global, legally binding treaty to end marine plastic pollution,” said Dr. Martin Bethke.
Image caption: PreZero and WWF have extended their partnership for five years, to 2025, during a ghost net recovery action off the coast of Rügen Island.
