Kia has renewed the electric vehicle fleet it provides to The Ocean Cleanup, supplying two EV3s and two EV4s for use at the non-profit’s headquarters in Rotterdam.
The cars, provided through Kia Netherlands, will support daily work at the organisation, from staff travel to project-related operations.
Kia has been a Global Mission Partner of The Ocean Cleanup since 2022.
The partnership covers financial, technical, research and logistical support, with vehicles forming part of that wider arrangement.
The Ocean Cleanup is best known for its work in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, along with river systems where plastic can be intercepted before it reaches the sea. The organisation has set a long-term aim of removing 90% of floating ocean plastic worldwide by 2040.
Kia said the renewed fleet also reflects work between both parties on finding practical uses for recovered plastic.
Both EV3s supplied to The Ocean Cleanup are fitted with a limited-edition EV3 boot liner made partly from plastic recovered from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The accessory contains 40% recycled ocean plastic, with the rest made up of thermoplastic vulcanisate and other additives.
It is a small part, but an interesting one, because recovered ocean plastic is not easy material to reuse. It has to be collected, sorted, processed and verified before it can be turned into something durable enough for vehicle use.
Kia and The Ocean Cleanup are also working on river plastic through the non-profit’s 30 Cities Program.
The aim is to intercept plastic before it reaches open water, with the partners pointing to work in the Los Angeles region as one recent example of that approach.
For Kia, the partnership gives the company a visible way to test selected recycled materials in vehicle-related products, rather than leaving the idea at concept level.
For The Ocean Cleanup, the benefits are multi-fold: funding, operational support, vehicles for daily use, and another route for recovered plastic to be used again instead of being treated only as waste.
Kia was separately named Sustainability Disruptor of the Year at the 2025 Newsweek Auto Disruptor Awards.
