Beachgoers and residents living along the coastline locally and countrywide were educated about the importance of keeping the shorelines clean.
With International Coastal Cleanup Day being celebrated on Sunday 16 September, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) did their bit with a cleanup at Sunrise Beach in Muizenberg.
“The objective of this event is to raise awareness and educate beachgoers about the importance of keeping our shores clean. This message is central to the Coca-Cola Company’s ‘World Without Waste’ initiative, which was launched in January with the goal of collecting and recycling the equivalent of 100% of bottles or cans sold by 2030. People living in the area are encouraged to join hands and help preserve our pristine coastlines,” says Priscilla Urquhart, public affairs and communications manager for Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages.
In conjunction with Coca-Cola’s other bottling partners in South Africa, a total of 14 cleanups have taken place across the country – reaching from as far as Mamelodi and Soweto to Durban and Muizenberg.
This is being done in partnership with Plastics SA for Cleanup and Recycle Week, which ran from Monday 10 to Saturday 15 September and coincides with international Coastal Cleanup Day on Sunday 16 September.
An estimated eight million tons of plastic waste washes into the world’s oceans each year and the concentration of pollutants is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years.
“The issue of plastics, recycling and ocean pollution has never been more crucial. While we can be proud of all that we have done over the years, as a country, we all need to play our part in saving the very environment that we are dependent on to survive,” says Urquhart.
“As a responsible South African bottling company and a trusted brand, CCPB plays a visible and leading role in combating plastic waste. The company continues to find new ways to educate customers and consumers about how pollution is affecting the environment, especially marine life.
“CCPB regularly organises beach cleanups in an effort to contribute towards environmental sustainability, a core Corporate Social Investment focus for the business. With the focus on international Coastal Cleanup Day this year, CCPB, with endorsement from the Two Oceans Aquarium, Averda South Africa, the World Wildlife Fund, Petco (the South African PET Recycling Company), will continue to raise awareness and educate beachgoers about keeping our coastlines clean and free of pollutants,” she says.