Case IH cleaning-up African beach

Case IH and Case Construction Equipment, together with their parent company CNH Industrial, have become involved in the Beach Care Project, an environmentally-friendly, coastal clean-up initiative which recently moved to the West African country of Ivory Coast.

The project, which has resulted in the cleaning and ecological maintenance of beaches across Europe, is centred on education and awareness. Following initial collaboration with academic and scientific institutions, it has since been implemented in schools across Europe, with educational kits and lessons on safeguarding of the environment reaching over fifteen thousand children.

Ivory Coast beach care project

It is estimated that as much as 280 tonnes of plastic waste is produced in the Ivory Coast every day, of which only 10 per cent is recycled, the remainder being buried in local landfills or released into the environment. The Beach Care Project, a three-year initiative of CNH Industrial and its Case IH and Case Construction brands, is designed to address this, and in Ivory Coast it involves collaboration with the NGO Jah Live and the local Case IH and Case Construction distributor, Kanu Equipment Cote d’Ivoire. Families and primary school children recently participated in beach activities designed to raise awareness of the need to fight the proliferation of waste, with particular emphasis on plastic.

Case IH and Case Construction have supplied a range of machines to collect and load plastic waste from Ivory Coast beaches. Cleaning operations have so far been carried out at Assouinde, Assinie Mafia and Grand Bassam beaches in Abidjan Province, helped by 400 local volunteers and 200 children, with over 20 tonnes of plastic gathered and disposed of. The brands are developing the project by supporting local communities and raising environment awareness, returning the cleaned beaches to citizens and helping recycle collected waste, making the Beach Care Project a model of the circular economy.

“Case IH supports several sustainability initiatives designed to foster interest in environmental care and protection,” says Valerio Domenici, Case IH marketing manager for Africa and the Middle East.

“The Beach Care Project is the latest to see our machines and our partners cleaning beaches, completing academic research, delivering education and promoting responsible values among younger generations, while showcasing the versatility of our agricultural and construction equipment.”

Raising awareness

The Beach Care Project is a CNH Industrial initiative spanning multiple years that aims to raise awareness of eco-conscious management of the beach ecosystem, says Daniela Ropolo, CNH Industrial Head of Sustainable Development Initiatives, who assisted with the week-long operation.

“It combines research, education and cleaning activities on site. Through this important international project, we are promoting the protection of the environment across generations. Its impact is getting bigger with each country we visit.

We are working with local organizations, local NGOs, students and volunteers. In previous such events across Europe, we have collected huge amounts of plastic and waste, and trained over 10,000 students environmentally. Further support has come from several celebrity endorsers, who are active supporters of sustainability causes and education, promoting environmental issues in the media, on television and in the social media arena to huge numbers of fans and followers. The Beach Care Project creates and disseminates information supporting the importance of protecting beaches, which are of high environmental importance, and have a significant impact on tourism and economies”, Daniela Ropolo concludes.