Mission

River Cleanup is a global network organization on a mission to clean rivers by empowering people, preventing pollution, and accelerating change.

Vision: Plastic-free rivers

They envision a future with plastic-free rivers. Macro- and microplastics have no place in their rivers, nor in the water they drink, the food they eat and the air they breathe. With 10 million kg of plastic ending up in nature and rivers every day, we need to act today. 

Approach

They developed the Clean River Model to tackle the root causes of river pollution. This holistic approach is organized around 3 integrated pillars and 2 enablers, and is aligned with their 5 values.

The Empower pillar focuses on raising awareness on the causes & consequences of plastic waste. They promote practical solutions, they empower people to become ambassadors, and they activate schools & communities to take action for a cleaner environment. 

The Prevent pillar aims to reduce single-use plastics and prevent plastic waste from entering nature by deploying accessible collection systems and removing riverine pollution. The collected waste is reintroduced back into the circular economy at their highest value to minimize the environmental impact of plastics.

The Accelerate pillar encourages and supports change by actively working on advocating policy change and collaborating within a network of like-minded organizations.