Partnership between Ogyre and BVRio removes plastic from the ocean in Rio de Janeiro

A new project from Italian company, Ogyre, is funding the collection of tons of plastic from the sea and mangroves of the Guranabara Bay around the Ilha do Governador (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) for three months. In total, it is estimated that 10 tons of plastic will be collected by fishermen using rowing boats in the region.

BVRio has been supporting the work of this community, which is participating in a pilot using the new KOLEKT waste management app to trade the plastics. According to the coordinator of the Fishermen’s Association of Bancários Beach, Ronaldo Alves Barboza, about 30% to 40% of plastic waste collected has market value.

Ogyre is a global platform for the recovery of litter from the ocean. The name Ogyre comes from Ocean Gyre, a circular current essential for the ecosystem but sadly better known for the accumulation of plastic in huge garbage patches. We want the Ocean Gyres to become a virtuous and vital circle for the ocean again. This is why we have created a sustainable value chain to collect plastic from our oceans thanks to fishermen and NGOs such as BVRio.

“We are very excited to have found an organization like BVRio that already has experience in international projects but still maintain a good relationship with the local communities in which it operates. That’s the kind of partners we want to achieve our mission of a clean Ocean”, said Antonio Augeri, CEO of Ogyre.