Over 460 Thai Union volunteers across the world collect 10 tons of trash on World Oceans Day
BANGKOK – June 22, 2023 – As part of Thai Union’s commitment to Healthy Oceans, employees from across Thailand, Europe and Africa volunteered to join a global clean-up program on World Oceans Day to help protect the marine environment.
A total of 10,016 kilograms (10 tons) of trash was collected from 8 clean-up sites including mangroves, beaches and rivers in Thailand, Ghana, Portugal, Italy and France. The most common items collected were plastic bags, plastic bottles, foam, old fishing gear and cigarette butts.
The clean-up program was part of a global campaign by the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), which Thai Union is a founding member of, and the Ocean Conservancy, to protect the environment.
“As a global seafood company, the oceans are crucial to our business,” said Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri, who is currently Chair of SeaBOS. “We recognize that ensuring the oceans remain healthy is critical for the future of our business, but more importantly critical for the future of the planet. That is why we are so passionate about clean-up events such as this and we will continue to expand these.”
In Thailand, 38 volunteers from Thai Union Group PCL, i-Tail Corporation PCL, Thai Union Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Okeanos Food Co. Ltd., Pakfood Co., Ltd., along with 312 official offices, community groups and educational institutions from the Samut Sakhon region joined the effort, collecting 2,183 kilograms of trash in the mangrove forest.
In Ghana, where Thai Union operates Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), 300 employees and members of the community came together to clean the canoe landing beach and the surrounding area close to the PFC factory in Tema. They collected 7.5 tons of trash and old fishing gear. European Seafood Investment Portugal (ESIP), Thai Union’s factory in the country, rallied 40 volunteers who collected 80 kilograms of trash at a beach in Peniche, where the factory is located.
Thai Union’s brand in Italy, Mareblu, joined forces with their NGO partner Legambiente. Thirty volunteers cleared 17 kilograms of trash from the beach of Genova Sturla in Liguria. In France, Thai Union’s teams from Petit Navire, MerAlliance and Thai Union Europe organized four clean-ups with 59 volunteers, collecting 236 kilograms of trash from beaches and the Odet river near their factories in Brittany and around their commercial office in Paris.
“At Thai Union, we have a strong corporate commitment to Healthy Oceans and we work hard to implement actions to ensure they remain healthy,” said Adam Brennan, Group Director, Sustainability. In addition to clean-ups, we are also tackling the issue at the source. For the past five years, Thai Union has also been working with the Global Ghost Gear Initiative to help address the issue of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear.
“Next month, Thai Union will announce even more initiatives to support the health of the oceans when we launch the next iteration of our new SeaChange® sustainability strategy, which will include new commitments and goals through to 2030.”
The trash collected during World Oceans Day was separated and data collected following the International Coastal Cleanup guidelines. The recyclable items were processed by local waste handling companies and the non-recyclable items were taken by local waste management organizations.
Since Thai Union joined the global coastal cleanup campaign with SeaBOS in 2021, Thai Union volunteers across the regions have collected 14,135 kilograms of trash.
About Thai Union
Thai Union Group PCL is the world's seafood leader, bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for 46 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as one of the world's leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 155.6 billion (US$ 4.4 billion) and a global workforce of more than 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, Hawesta, and Rügen Fisch, Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, OMG Meat, Bellotta and Marvo, and ingredient and supplement brands UniQ®BONE, UniQ®DHA and ZEAvita.
As a company committed to “Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans,” Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a founding participating company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and current Chair of Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS). Thai Union's ongoing work through its
SeaChange® sustainability strategy was recognized when the company was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the ninth consecutive year in 2022. The company was ranked number one on the Food Products Industry Index of the DJSI, a position it previously held in 2018 and 2019. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the sixth straight year in 2021. Find out more about the Group’s sustainability at seachangesustainability.org.