RiverRecycle's Citarum Repair Project advances to a fully operational solution stopping plastic pollution in Indonesia.

The project started in 2021 with the installation in Bandung of RiverRecycle's proprietary river cleaning technology to collect floating debris and plastic waste. More than 5000 people in the local community have already benefitted from educational programs organized by Greeneration Foundation about the importance of reducing and properly disposing of household waste to protect their health and the environment. Waste4Change manages the activities related to the collection and separation of waste. The project aims to stop plastic pollution by collecting litter from rivers and introducing recycling for low-value plastics. Local handicraft artisans use the waste's organic fraction, composed chiefly of water hyacinths, to create baskets and other woven objects.

"The project has already collected more than 350 tonnes of waste and reached over 5500 people." States Anssi Mikola CEO, and founder of RiverRecycle. "This is a significant accomplishment, but it is only the beginning. In its maturity, the Citarum Repair Project will be a self-standing circular waste management system of high environmental and socio-economical impact".

"The 'Citarum Repair' project is a collaboration that is expected to become a catalyst in the effort to accelerate new initiatives that have the ability to solve the waste problems in the Citarum river," said Wisya Aulia Prayudi The Greeneration Foundation's Program Manager, in her welcoming speech.

Benioff Ocean Initiative and Coca-Cola Foundation provided the initial financing of the project.The partners involved in the project, RiverRecycle, Greeneration Foundation, and Waste4Change, are part of the Clean Current Coalition, a group of organizations dedicated to preventing plastic waste from polluting the oceans.

The Citarum Repair Project:

Framed by Presidential Decree No.15 of 2018, the Citarum Repair Projectaims to accelerate pollution control and reduce damage to the Citarum River Basin. This project is the outcome of an international collaboration between RiverRecycle, Greeneration Foundation, and Waste4Change, and is part of the Clean Current Coalition's active projects portfolio. Launched in 2021 in the West Bandung Regency, the project employs RiverRecycle's proprietary technology to concentrate and direct floating plastic into an automated collection wheel, which lifts it out of the river. Currently, the project collects an average of 1.5 tons of waste daily and is committed to increasing this amount while supporting and educating the local community on household waste sorting and recycling. This is RiverRecycle's first installation in Indonesia and has been funded by The Benioff Ocean Initiative and the Coca-Cola Foundation.