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Removing Plastic From Rivers Is Now a Porsche and Audi Thing Too, Here's How It Works

Porsche and Audi are trying to focus a lot more on things that matter for our environment. Their all-electric cars are a first step in the right direction to decarbonize our societies, but the sole push in this direction can’t guarantee the change everybody wants. Complementary measures are needed. Here’s what the carmakers are doing beyond investing in battery electric vehicles.
CollectiX Cleaning the Water 8 photos
Photo: Radu Chindris
Meeting the Team Behind the ProjectCollectiX Ship Taking the Trash Out the WaterThe Place Where the Trash is Dumped for the Truck to Pick It UpCollectiX at the Voila DamThe Truck Carrying the Collected TrashThe Plastic Patch at the Voila DamPlastic is Often Mixed with Wood and Other Materials
I was honestly surprised when the call from Porsche came. It’s not every day that you get a serious invitation to an event that doesn’t come with a lot of details beforehand. Knowing that the 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic wasn’t going to be available for a press ride so I could share it with you and the 2024 Macan EV is still far from being released in the wild, I immediately thought this would turn into a driving session on the road and track. I was kind of hoping the Stuttgart-based carmaker was going to indulge us with some GTS goodies.

I was hopeful, but what followed after these thoughts was even better than expected. The team gave me the keys to a Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and told me to meet them at a location that’s near a mountainous area in a beautiful region of Romania. Google Maps helped me navigate the roads, and I was planning from the get-go to just enjoy the drive.

The end of the journey found me near the Fagaras Mountains, which hide the amazing Transfagarasan Road and other similar driving treasures. I arrived near a dam that was just a serene location, far away from the public eye and the city noise. It was blissful until I saw what that place was hiding. The water was filled with trash! It wasn’t only plastic bottles, but I even saw door fridges, soccer balls, dismembered dolls, and lots of wood. I was speechless.

The thing that surprised me the most wasn’t the polluted, dirty water but the fact this was a place that actively generates electricity. I didn’t understand how they could let all that massive amount of trash pass through the gates of the power plant until I saw the separation chamber. It was just a floating patch of hidden garbage. You could call this an environmental disaster, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

Plastic is Often Mixed with Wood and Other Materials
Photo: everwave
You might think an Eastern European country that’s somewhat small and unheard of is prone to such type of societal behavior. Still, you’ll be surprised to see even worse scenarios in the U.S., Canada, the UK, or France. Plastic is more dangerous than bad fungi nowadays. It’s spreading at an alarming rate everywhere in the world, and it’s affecting the quality of our waters in unimaginable ways in the long term. Banning plastic straws won’t do much good when you have companies, families, or individuals emptying their waste into rivers.

But here come Porsche and Audi with their project called Cleanup Mission Romania 2022. Enabled by the green startup everwave’s trash-collecting boat named CollectiX, and with the help of the Rotary Club Romania and a state-owned energy company, they started cleaning the waters.

Something good is happening

I got there just in time to see them on their second day of operation. The specially modified ship collected everything it could retrieve, and then it took the trash to an isolated shore location. There, a truck used a crane and loaded everything up. The collected waste is then taken to a facility where wood is separated from plastic and glass. Finally, they let everything dry up before everything is sorted out and recycled. It’s a pity that they haven’t found a partner that can reintroduce plastic into the economic circuit in a different form.

The idea behind it was to help the relevant stakeholders find their ways to clean the waters. The green startup everwave is ready to share its plans and technologies with those responsible for continuing this mission after they leave. They’re staying for five weeks on some tributary rivers for the Danube, where they’ll collect as much waste as possible.

CollectiX at the Voila Dam
Photo: Radu Chindris
Porsche and Audi are involved in this endeavor through the Ferry Porsche Foundation. It’s a great way to start making a lot of waves everywhere it’s needed to promote a sustainable lifestyle that’s enhanced by changing people’s behavior.

At first, I thought this was just another public relations campaign filtered by the social responsibility branch of each automaker abovementioned. However, meeting the people behind the project, seeing them in action, and understanding that they will share everything with public and private entities (including the diesel-powered boats that can use eFuels) gained my admiration. The people involved want to bring a positive change. I’m glad that big players from the automotive space are supporting the effort.

We need at least a part of our for-profit societies to focus on keeping our environment from imploding on us. Nature will eventually regain its glory if we keep forcing a global catastrophe to happen. Humanity won’t.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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