Borouge, Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, the strategic partners that support Project STOP (Stop Ocean Plastics), have announced that the initiative has received the Social Contribution and Local Content Project of the Year Award at the ADIPEC Awards 2019.
Received at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi on 11 November 2019, these awards recognise outstanding contributions to the future of the oil and gas industry.
Project STOP is a pioneering initiative that partners with cities to stop plastic waste leaking into the ocean.
Borealis and SYSTEMIQ co-founded Project STOP in 2017 and have since been joined by like-minded strategic partners, which in addition to Borouge and NOVA Chemicals include the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nestlé and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, alongside its supporting partners Veolia, Schwarz Group and Sustainable Waste Indonesia.
The first city partnership project, in Muncar, Indonesia, started in 2018. To date, more than 30,000 people are served with waste collection for the first time in their lives. This has resulted in more than 1,800 tonnes of waste being collected and has created 60 full-time jobs.
The companies say we are now ready for the next step in our scale-up ambition, with two new city partnerships currently being prepared for the launch. One of these is in Jembrana, Bali, funded and led by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.
Alfred Stern, Borealis Chief Executive, said: “Project STOP is part of our wider EverMinds engagement. This is our strategic commitment to transforming the plastics industry into one that is more sustainable, more circular and more socially responsible. Ocean plastics are a complex challenge, which needs political, social, financial and technological interventions, across the value chain. Project STOP enables us to work with governments, authorities and other members of the value chain, to tackle this problem together.”