Plastic Waste Crisis and Collaborative Efforts
With 440 million pounds of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans annually, plastic waste has emerged as one of the most urgent global environmental concerns of the twenty-first century. In order to address this problem, VeChain has teamed up with 4ocean, an organization dedicated to the removal of plastic waste from oceans and coastlines. To date, 40 million pounds of ocean trash have been removed by 4ocean.
The partnership was officially launched in a beach cleanup in Miami that was also attended by the UFC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The cleanup was utilized as a showcase for Cleanify dApp, a decentralized application that operates on the VeBetter ecosystem and VeChain’s blockchain network.
How Blockchain Will Enhance Cleanup Efforts
Through this collaboration, all the trash collected from oceans, rivers, and coastlines will be tracked and verified on the blockchain with assured accurate records of environmental impact. Tokenized “Sustainability Proofs” will also be stored on-chain, providing immutable data to verify cleanup activities.
VeBetter will reward individuals and communities with B3TR tokens, creating a blockchain-facilitated incentive for sustainability action and also encouraging participation. With transparent and tamper-proof documentation, this platform also precludes greenwashing, cultivating greater stakeholder trust and ensuring real environmental progress.
“This partnership is a perfect match of mission and tech. By combining 4ocean’s remarkable track record of ocean conservation with the blockchain technology of VeChain, we’re creating new opportunities for people to engage with and verify the impact of some of the world’s largest environmental cleanup efforts,” commented Sunny Lu, CEO and Founder of VeChain. 4ocean has carried out cleanup operations in a variety of countries across different continents, from the United States to the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
As the announcement explains, VeChain and 4ocean will start a series of sustainability initiatives in 2025. To significantly contribute towards environmental rebirth, the duo will focus on removing 300,000 pounds of plastic and waste from rivers, beaches, and oceans. They will run an 11-month sustainability sweepstakes from February to December with prizes to promote participation globally in order to encourage community involvement. On top of this, the partnership will also include limited-edition 4ocean x VeChain merchandise, the proceeds of which will go directly towards ocean cleanup projects.
“When purpose is the motivation for action, meaningful change is achieved. In our partnership with VeChain, we’re removing 300,000 pounds of plastic from the ocean, which is equivalent to 14.4 million plastic water bottles. We’re committed to exploring blockchain technology to assist in our tracking and verification processes, enabling even greater transparency into our cleanup initiatives,” said Alex Schulze, CEO and Co-founder of 4ocean.
Currently, VET’s token has increased its value by 8.14% in the last 24 hours to trade at $0.02189 while its trading volume has also increased by 32.27% to $76.31 million.