Successful completion of the “Bekasi River Cleanup” (BRIC) project and handover to local stakeholders

As part of the joint sustainability strategy and the REset Plastic strategy, the companies of Schwarz Group are also supporting the removal of plastic waste from rivers, lakes and the sea. The joint vision is to turn the waste of today into the raw materials of tomorrow. To this end, a variety of activities were initiated and implemented on a local, national and global level; this commitment yields tangible results. 

The BRIC (Bekasi RIver Cleanup) project in Indonesia is one of these large-scale activities. It was initiated in 2019 by Corporate Responsibility, Schwarz Unternehmenskommunikation GmbH & Co. KG, the environmental organization, “One Earth - One Ocean e.V. (OEOO)” and the local waste management company, “Waste4Change” in close cooperation with one another. Since then, all partners have contributed to the project with their expertise. The Corporate Responsibility team was able to provide support and valuable know-how in the area of recyclables management, in particular.

Preparations for the long-term handover of the project to local stakeholders were made early on. Last October, Hannah Nicklas, project lead at Corporate Responsibility, traveled to Benkasi one last time. There she met with the project partners, OEOO and Waste4Change, to take stock of the successful cooperation spanning the last three years.

In summary, the project is also able to report the following achievements:

• Together with our partners, we at Corporate Responsibility were able to establish an infrastructure that promotes environmental protection and to create jobs for “Frog Troop” employees under improved working conditions.
• The construction of a collection and sorting station increased the awareness among the local population in Bekasi to the issue of plastic waste.
• Since the station became fully operational three years ago, the “SeeHamster” catamarans, designed specifically to clean up rivers, have removed up to 500 kilograms of waste per day from the Bekasi river. About 60 percent of this waste is returned to the local recycling loops.
• The project’s operations are entirely carbon-neutral: The SeeHamsters run on solar power and can also get their energy from the station’s own photovoltaic systems.

In line with the project plan, the time has now come to hand over the project to the local stakeholders for the long term. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners, OEOO and Waste4Change, for their contribution to this highly successful cooperation.