The more than 10 years old Plastic Cup initiative has become internationally renowned for its efforts to reduce the plastic pollution of the Tisza River and its tributaries. It has all started as a cleanup competition, which stands out with its key principles: waste is value and cleanup is fun! As started by a community of nature filmmakers, every milestone in the organisation's history has been documented. In recent years, the focus has shifted even more to river cleanup and li(t)teracy which is reflected in the fact that the association is now officially known as the Plastic Cup Association and the Plastic Cup brand itself is now a European registered trademark.
Behind this transformation is the realisation that Plastic Cup now has the knowledge and know-how, as well as academic and industry partnerships, to tackle and prevent the plastic pollution of rivers by using tools of data collection, river restoration and innovation. We needed to recognize that despite our large volunteer base, Plastic Cup alone will never be enough to eliminate plastic pollution of rivers. It is necessary to open up doors and share our knowledge in order to involve and arm everyone with will to act for our healthy rivers. We need to train the next generation of Riversavers, engage local population along rivers and develop replicable protocols. Apart from human resources, we also focus on technology development by building partnerships with academic and industry partners to craft novel technologies to tackle plastic pollution. Our role in this process is central - we bring the knowledge from the river shore and the real data which so far have been missing from the research. The new solutions then can be validated also by Plastic Cup and then providing again feedback for research - creating a repeating loop this way.
To engage people and share technologies - this is how the Riversaver brand and platform were born. Enjoy browsing through this website to find solutions with which you can contribute to clean rivers.

To learn more about the Plastic Cup Society, and actual news about the races and projects, please check the website of the Society at www.petkupa.hu.

To discover the offer of Plastic Cup Society for schools including a curriculum, please head to www.tisztatisza.eu