GS Caltex Launches 'Microplastic Reduction' Campaign Including Support for Improving Rainwater Drains

Together with the Nonprofit Organization Jayeonui Beot Research Institute

‘From Here to the Sea’ Campaign Supporters Recruitment and Video Contest Poster. Photo by GS Caltex

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jung] GS Caltex is supporting the improvement of roadside storm drains and a public awareness campaign to reduce microplastics flowing into the ocean, in collaboration with the nonprofit environmental organization, the Nature Friends Research Institute.

GS Caltex and the Nature Friends Research Institute have decided to manufacture litter prevention nets and install them in roadside storm drains in Jung-gu, Mapo-gu, and Songpa-gu districts of Seoul. In Mapo-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu, they plan to carry out a campaign by producing road surface stickers with slogans prohibiting littering and attaching them around storm drains.

According to the Ministry of Environment, it is estimated that more than 455,000 cigarette butts enter the ocean daily. Cigarette filters that flow into the sea take more than 10 years to fully decompose, and the microplastics and various harmful substances released from cigarette filters pollute marine life and the environment, negatively impacting the marine ecosystem. Additionally, the importance of the role of roadside storm drains has been highlighted due to the heavy rains and flooding damage in Seoul and the metropolitan area last August.

The Nature Friends Research Institute will conduct a public awareness campaign to prevent illegal dumping of microplastics (cigarette butts) under the slogan "From Here to the Sea" from the 8th of this month until the 28th of next month. They are recruiting 100 citizen supporters aged between 18 and 34. The citizen supporters, sponsored by GS Caltex, will regularly monitor storm drains equipped with litter nets and upload the results and supporter activity videos to their personal social networking services (SNS). Applications for citizen supporter participation can be made on the Nature Friends Research Institute website. Furthermore, the institute plans to hold a contest for activity videos uploaded by citizen supporters.

During the first anniversary event of the Energy Plus application launch, GS Caltex will donate 1% of the usage amount from "Energy Plus Card Edition 2" used for "immediate refueling" on the Energy Plus app to fund the production and installation of litter nets and road surface stickers, as well as support the campaign activities conducted by the Nature Friends Research Institute. The accumulated donation amount can be checked in real-time through the Energy Plus app.

A GS Caltex official stated, "We are supporting campaign activities to protect urban and marine environments together with the Nature Friends Research Institute, which is creating a society living in harmony with nature," and added, "We will continue to discover and support activities to protect the Earth we live on and strive to become a respected company."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.