We have extended our pan-European partnership with Hyundai Motor for a further year and will continue working together to combat marine pollution, nurture sustainable marine ecosystems and support a circular economy.
The renewal of this partnership follows its successful first year in 2021, which saw us hold eleven activations in seven European countries. These ranged from underwater cleanups to recover lost or abandoned fishing nets (ghost nets), to educational programmes teaching children and local communities about the importance of keeping the world’s oceans clean.
The big news is that thanks to the renewal of our partnership with Hyundai Motor in 2022, we will be able to achieve even greater positive environmental impact in the regions where we already operate, as well as turn a dream into reality and begin working in Asia!
In 2021, the kick-off event, held in Ithaca, Greece, proved to be our largest project to date in terms of positive environmental impact and community involvement. Thanks to 45 participants, 20 divers, and 15 organisations, the event cleaned four beaches and two bays, recovering five tonnes of ghost nets, 32 tonnes of metal and 39 tonnes of plastic waste, including 150 bags of polystyrene foam beads.
Hyundai went on to support our ghost net retrieval diving expeditions in Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, the Italian island of Lampedusa, Newcastle in the UK, the German island of Norderney and Tossa del Mar in Spain. 72 volunteer divers were involved across all clean-up activities, helping to retrieve more than 78 tonnes of waste in the form of ghost nets, crab and lobster cages, lead and other marine litter.
The partnership’s activities did not stop at the clean-ups. Collected fishing nets were regenerated into the sustainable nylon ECONYL®, which ultimately was used for producing the floormats in IONIQ 5.
In addition to clean-up activities, through our partnership we also brought educational events to Valencia, Ijmuiden, Milan, Ithaca, Paris, Costa Brava and on the German island of Sylt. Geared mainly towards children from local schools, 2021 saw 900 children learn about the importance of marine preservation and how to prevent further marine pollution.
Hyundai will also use its expertise as a leader in clean and future mobility solutions to help us operate in a sustainable way, through the use of zero-emissions cars, and the ongoing investigation in search of the right technologies and most sustainable solutions.
Since the launch of its first all-electric midsized CUV in 2021, Hyundai has been giving European customers the option of outfitting their IONIQ 5 with sustainable floor mats made from ECONYL® . During 2022, the use of this regenerated material will be expanded in Hyundai vehicles, amongst Hyundai’s partners and at the company itself, such as carpets in premises, employee merchandising and branded gifts.