Sea Cleaners X Coca‑Cola in New Zealand:  Making Waves in the Fight Against Marine Litter

Since 2019, with the support of The Coca‑Cola Foundation and Coca‑Cola in New Zealand, Sea Cleaners have collected more than 440, 000 kgs of marine litter from waterways in New Zealand and coordinated over 13,000 volunteer hours*.

*amount of marine litter collected and volunteer hours between January 2019 and May 2025

Sea Cleaners is much more than just a cleanup initiative; they are educators and innovators in responsible waste disposal and recycling practices.   

They work with a number of local organisations, such as Northland Waste and Future Post, to ensure that collected litter Is sorted properly and goes to the correct place. Plastics suitable for recycling are transformed into new products such as fence posts or garden beds.  

Fence posts created from marine litter collected by Sea Cleaners

All our bottles and cans are recyclable. In New Zealand all our plastic bottles under 1 litre and all of our water bottles in all sizes are made from recycled plastic (excluding caps and labels). We can help prevent them becoming waste or ending up in our waterways by recycling them and helping them have another life. 

We believe collection initiatives like Container Return Schemes will help to keep more bottles and cans in the recycling loop and out of our waterways. 

Originally established to reduce litter, container return schemes have far-reaching environmental, financial and social benefits - from supporting local charities who raise funds via container refunds, to giving bottles the best chance of becoming another bottle. 

Learn more about how we’re working with Marine Partners here https://www.coca-cola.com/nz/en/sustainability/sustainable-packaging/tackling-marine-litter-together

Visit the Sea Cleaners website https://www.seacleaners.com/