The annual effort contributes to Thai Union's SeaChange® 2030 goal to divert 1,500 metric tons of ocean-bound plastic by 2030

BANGKOK, July 13, 2026 – Thai Union Group PCL, a global seafood leader, today announced that its 2026 World Oceans Day cleanup activities removed more than 8 metric tons of waste across Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. Nearly 200 volunteers from the company's operations and brands worldwide took to mangroves, beaches, harbors, and waterways as part of the annual effort, the latest in Thai Union's continued push to protect ocean health.

The initiative supports Thai Union's broader work to safeguard marine ecosystems and contributes to its industry-leading SeaChange® 2030 sustainability strategy, which includes a goal to divert 1,500 metric tons of ocean-bound plastic by 2030.

The event’s largest single haul came from Tema, Ghana, where teams collected more than 5,300 kilograms of waste in partnership with Tema General Hospital, while mangrove cleanups in Samut Sakhon, Thailand, removed another 2,455 kilograms. Additional sites included Seychelles, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, and the United States.

Adam Brennan, Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer at Thai Union Group, said: "Ocean plastic does not stop at borders, and neither does the responsibility to deal with it, that’s the standard we hold ourselves to under SeaChange® 2030. Cleanups like these are how we turn that responsibility into something tangible. Every kilogram pulled from a mangrove, a harbor, or a beach is a kilogram that will not end up in the ocean."

All collected waste was sorted and logged following International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) guidelines, with recyclable materials sent to local waste management partners for processing and the remainder handled through certified disposal channels.

The same belief that collective, local engagement is essential to fighting ocean-bound plastics runs through Thai Union's longer-term efforts with coastal fishing communities in southern Thailand. In Songkhla and Phatthalung provinces, the company has partnered with the Thai Sea Watch Association on an 18-month project that has brought 80 households into community waste banks and behavior-change programs designed to keep waste out of the sea. It reflects the source-to-sea logic that anchors Thai Union's wider response to ocean plastic.

That source-to-sea logic also shapes Thai Union's engagement further upstream, where fishing gear itself represents one of the most damaging forms of marine debris. As much as one million metric tons is abandoned, lost, or discarded into the world's oceans each year, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The issue of ghost gear represents an industry-wide challenge, one Thai Union has been part of since 2018 as a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and as a founding company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, supporting collective work with science and NGO partners to strengthen gear standards and vessel practice.

Through SeaChange® 2030, Thai Union continues to drive sustained progress on ocean plastic reduction, ecosystem restoration, and environmental stewardship across the company's operations, supply chains, and the communities at the heart of the seafood industry.