TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Business Today and five of its business partners formed a group consisting of 147 volunteers to clean up a beach in New Taipei’s Wanli District on Sunday (Sept. 26), picking up 905 kilograms of trash in one hour.
Business Today wrote on Monday (Sept. 27) that companies including HiiN Studio, Gigabyte Technology, AcBel Polytech, Toyota Tsusho Taiwan, And Jerng Jye Corporation responded to its call. The campaign was part of “Project Blue,” which aims to create a circular economy using garbage in the ocean and on beaches, by recycling plastic bottles and turning them into Taiwan’s iconic blue-and-white slippers.
An introduction to "Project Blue." (YouTube, Business Today video)
In order to do so, a team of “plastic bottle kamikaze” specialized in picking up plastic bottles on Sunday’s beach clean-up. Per Business Today, out of the 167,000 items of marine debris picked up between 2017 and 2020, plastic bottles made up 18.7%.
Lab 22, which specializes in manufacturing footwear from coffee grounds and recycled plastic bottles, said each pair of slippers is created with materials from five plastic bottles picked up from beaches and three oyster shells. The company said it adopted the patented GreenPlax technology to create tough, flexible, and water repellent slippers, and designed them with soles that feature the shape of Taiwan.
An introduction to the manufacturing process of Lab 22 slippers. (YouTube, Business Today video)
According to Business Today, its publisher Andy Liang (梁永煌) was also part of the beach cleaning event, and said while he was glad to meet everyone at the beach, the piles of trash cleaned up showed that “an empty bottle discarded by accident may float all the way here and become marine debris.” He hoped that the many children who participated in the event can learn about the value of sustainability through the experience.
Business Today launched Project Blue on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, and the project is currently planned for a three-year period. It seeks to work with corporations, non-governmental organizations, and Certified B Corporations to implement marine debris clean-up and recycling programs.
Business Today publisher Andy Liang joins the beach cleaning effort. (Business Today photo)
