Attendees at the ceremony were Ms. Elsbeth Akkerman - Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Vietnam, Mr. Tran Phong - Director of the Southern Environment Protection Agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Boyan Slat - CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, United Nations Development Programme​ (UNDP) Resident Representative for Viet Nam as well as ambassadors and representatives of several countries. 

The Interceptor is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers. After years of planning, the Interceptor 003 was launched into the Can Tho River in December. The Can Tho Cleanup system, also named René in honor of its designer René Bubberman, has removed an average of close to 10,000kg of debris each month since trial operations began in December 2021.

Coca-Cola Vietnam and The Ocean Cleanup announced that the Can Tho river in Can Tho City has been selected as one of 15 river locations around the world as part of a global partnership between the two organizations. Alongside the river cleanup, the Coca-Cola Vietnam and The Ocean Cleanup are also working with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho city and local operators to conduct river waste research to better understand plastic pollution in the Can Tho River and scale up the project where appropriate.

Mr. Boyan Slat, CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup, introduced Interceptor 003 and The Can Tho Cleanup system.

Attending the event, CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat shared his aspirational vision and mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, including through the interception of trash in rivers before it can reach the ocean. He said: “The Ocean Cleanup’s mission is to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, and I am happy to see the first impact of our work in an area as iconic as the Mekong Delta. Launching in the Can Tho River has taken years of commitment and hard work from our local partners and our organization. Today, we celebrate the important milestone with the fourth project on our global agenda with The Coca-Cola Company. Together, we will continue the rollout to the remaining locations at full speed”.

As a symbolic gesture to celebrate the deployment of the Interceptor, Slat handed over the unit's remote control to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho city, which will now be responsible for its ongoing operation.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr, Duong Tan Hien, Standing Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho city, expressed his appreciation to The Ocean Cleanup, The Coca-Cola Company, and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho city for making this project possible. According to Standing Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien, the efficient operation of the Interceptor 003 not only helps to protect the environment, and the quality of surface water but also contributes to the development and promotion of river tourism in Can Tho city. Moreover, the project will contribute to helping Can Tho achieve its goal to become an ecological, civilized, and modern city typical of the Mekong Delta by 2030.

The Interceptor 003 was launched into the Can Tho River in December as part of a global partnership

Based on the positive results from the pilot project “automatic garbage collection on Can Tho river”, Can Tho city will continue to mobilize all resources with support from international and local organizations as well as enterprises to jointly develop and replicate more environmental protection projects, contributing to maintaining the title of “5th ASEAN environmentally sustainable city” Can Tho City has just been received at the 16th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting On Environment in 2021.

As the representative of The Ocean Cleanup organization, Mr. Boyan Slat handed over the unit's remote control to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Can Tho city, which will now be responsible for its ongoing operation.

According to Ms. Elsbeth Akkerman, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Vietnam, the automatic waste collection on rivers deployed in Can Tho is the first but not the last project implemented in Vietnam. The Interceptor 003 will continue to be replicated in many other localities of Vietnam as well as other countries.

Leonardo Garcia, general manager at Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia said, “We are very proud to stand today as the first global implementation partner of The Ocean Cleanup as we help to mobilize collective action and practical solutions to improve the health of the Mekong Delta.”

Mr. Tran Phong - Director of the Southern Environment Protection Agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, expressed his belief that this project will be efficiently operated. As such, the trash collection will not only happen in the Can Tho River but also be scaled up to other rivers in Vietnam. This is also a journey to industrialize the process of collecting and recycling plastic waste, along with promoting a circular economy for a sustainable green economy in Vietnam