Kia has been awarded the 'Sustainability Disruptor of the Year' at the 2025 Newsweek Auto Disruptor Awards for its ongoing partnership with The Ocean Cleanup [2, 3]. The award acknowledges Kia's three-year commitment to removing plastic waste from the world's oceans [2].
Since 2022, Kia has provided financial resources, technical expertise, and logistical support to The Ocean Cleanup [2, 3]. This collaboration has fostered innovations in recycling ocean plastic for use in Kia accessories [2].
To date, the partnership has contributed to the removal of over one million pounds of plastic from the Pacific Ocean, primarily from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch [2, 3]. The Ocean Cleanup aims to remove 90% of ocean plastic by 2040 through ocean cleanup and river interception [9, 13]. The organization has already removed over 21 million kilograms of trash from rivers and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as of February 2025 [4].