From a 10-minute cleanup to 1000 plastic-free rivers
River Cleanup is a Belgium-based organization with one clear goal: making rivers plastic-free.
The non-profit started with manual cleanup actions and evolved into a pioneer in the field of river protection, with mentions in Forbes, De Tijd, The Economist and many more. Their recently launched Clean River Model offers a scalable approach to prevent plastic pollution from ending up in rivers and to clean up existing pollution. With this holistic method, River Cleanup plans to make 1000 of the most polluted rivers in the world plastic-free by 2050.
It all started in 2017 when Thomas de Groote was challenged by his sister to clean up litter for only 10 minutes: a small action that could easily be seen as futile. Those 10 minutes opened Thomas’ eyes to the amount of plastic around him, and he decided to dedicate his life to making rivers plastic-free. Currently, an estimated 10 million kg of plastic ends up in nature and rivers every day.
After cleanup actions with friends & colleagues, the plan grew to clean up the whole Rhine. The ambition was to activate 3 countries and 9 cities to take action. In reality over 10 000 people joined in 5 countries and 60 cities! In 2019, River Cleanup was officially founded and immediately became an international organization with cleanups in Europe and Asia.
After reaching the first million kg of collected river waste, the milestones kept on coming. But as nice as it is to collect 3,5 million kg of river waste and activate 280 000 people, the team realized this cleanup-focused way of working would not solve the plastic pollution crisis. Sothey worked on one simple question: What is the most efficient and effective way to make rivers plastic-free?
The Clean River Model was the answer!
Designed as a holistic and highly scalable approach to make a river plastic-free, it was based on scientific insights, such as Breaking the Plastic Wave, and years of experience from a motivated, international team. Since its creation, River Cleanup has won multiple awards with the Clean River Model: the Trends Impact Award Ecology, the ABN Amro Ready to Invest Award, the Public Choice Award by Ashoka and the Belgian Impact Startup Award.
The model is made up of three pillars: Empower, Prevent and Accelerate.
- By empowering people, River Cleanup wants to instigate behavior change. One person becoming part of the solution, can encourage others to follow in their footsteps and soon. The organization rolls out educational programs, activating students and teachers to become ambassadors within their families and communities. At the same time, local leaders are empowered to take ownership and anchor the change within their communities.
- The prevention of pollution takes on many forms: from reducing single-use plastics by promoting sustainable alternatives, to the deployment of accessible collection systems. The recovered materials are then recycled and repurposed at their highest value. All the while, River Cleanup shares knowledge and promotes circular economy solutions.
- The third pillar is acceleration of change. The organization believes that a collaboration with both authorities and like-minded organizations is crucial in solving this complex challenge. River Cleanup itself generates data, provides insights, and informs authorities on sources of river pollution. This allows for practical remediations. At the same time, it advocates policy change and encourages structural solutions, ensuring lasting impact.
Before the Clean River Model is implemented there is an assessment phase, providing a solid understanding of each river’s circumstances and challenges. It forms the base for a river-specific action-plan. Based on this plan, the necessary funding is defined to realize impact in the long run.
Finally, River Cleanup keeps track of the progress and effectiveness of the Clean River Model interventions by monitoring key performance indicators and evaluating outcomes against established baselines. All together, these elements cover every stage inthe plastic lifecycle, and form a clear approachto make rivers around the world plastic-free.
River Cleanup is currently validating the Clean River Model along 3 rivers in Belgium, Indonesia and Cameroon. They aim to have the model started in 100 rivers by 2030 and implemented in 1 000 rivers by 2050. To realize these ambitious plans, they partner with organizations around the world to implement the model, finance the operations and realize maximum global impact.
If you’re interested in supporting or joining their mission, visit river-cleanup.org and get in touch.
