Addu City, Maldives – Addu City Council on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Maldives Ocean Plastics Alliance (MOPA) to bring MOPAs flagship “PET Reverse Logistics Program” to Addu city paving the way to work towards the mutual goal of combating ocean plastics.
The MOU was signed by Thoriq Ibrahim, President & Co-Founder of MOPA and Ali Nizar, Mayor of Addu City.
Addu City’s Equator Village Resort on Friday joined this initiative by signing an MoU with MOPA.
Under the understanding signed, MOPA and the City Council have agreed to work together to facilitate the collection of post-consumer PET bottles for recycling and repurposing from within Addu City. The collection focus will primarily include retail outlets, cafes, restaurants, and guest houses.
The expansion of PET Reverse Logistics Program to Addu City is supported by the project partners Happy Market (producers of Life bottled water) and Male Aerated Water Company (producers of BonAqua bottled water) in the Maldives as part of the producer responsibility programs of both organizations.
The collected PET bottles are transported to Male’ and handed over to Parley Maldives to be recycled and upcycled into everyday items like Adidas sneakers. This national multi-stakeholder partnership project brings together numerous companies with a shared vision to create a more sustainable business and a better, shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet.
At the signing ceremony, Thoriq shared his appreciation and congratulated the members of the City Council for their vision and commitment to combat ocean plastics and for supporting MOPA in the efforts to reduce ocean plastics in the Maldives. He further highlighted the importance of collaborating to work towards a more sustainable future in saving the environment while thanking the program’s partners.
At the ceremony Mayor Ali Nizar, affirmed the council’s commitment to combat single-use plastics in the Maldives and noted that they are firmly behind MOPA in facilitating the implementation of the program on the island to collect PET bottles for recycling.
The program designed by MOPA advocates for behavioural changes in PET consumption, disposal, collection, and recycling which will be shared in community-based programmes to raise awareness on the far-reaching impact of waste segregation and management.
