– Stafettpinnen klar til å overleveres
Handelens Miljøfond har ledet Norges første nasjonale ryddeprogram siden 2020. Nå har de landet aktøren som skal ta over roret når Rydd Norge går inn i sin andre fase.
Published: 08.May, 2023 Last updated: 05.December, 2025
– Vi har funnet og ryddet store mengder plastsøppel. De gode nyhetene er at det blir mindre for hvert tonn vi rydder. Å etablere og drifte Rydd Norge-programmet har vært en enorm jobb som har gjort oss utrolig stolte. Nå er vi veldig glade for at SALT har påtatt seg arbeidet med å drifte programmet videre, og ser fram til å overlevere stafettpinnen i 2024, sier Cecilie Lind, daglig leder i Handelens Miljøfond.
– SALT is grateful for the trust placed in us by being awarded the task and looks forward to starting the work. We are pleased to be able to utilize the experience and knowledge from Cleanup Norway in our efforts to continue Cleanup Norway in the coming years. SALT views this as a very important mission and looks forward to collaborating with the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund and cleanup operators to continue removing large amounts of marine litter from the coastline, says Kjersti Eline Tønnesen Busch, CEO of SALT.
– We have had a thorough process with an open tender competition with negotiations and feel confident that SALT will accomplish the task in the best possible way for all involved, says Lind.
Maintaining Ambitions
The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund will lead the program through 2023, and SALT is now starting preparations for the launch of Cleanup Norway 2 by developing county-wide cleanup plans. Calls for cleanup assignments in various counties for 2024-25 with options until 2028 will be issued during the summer.
– We retain the overall responsibility for Cleanup Norway 2, and the framework for the program is still set by us. All plans and contracts are approved and entered into with us, but we are now transferring the day-to-day operations of the program, such as the development of cleanup plans and follow-up with the cleanup operators, to SALT. And perhaps most importantly – we are maintaining the high ambitions!
In Cleanup Norway 2, the goal is to initially clean up an additional 15% of the outer coast in 2024-2025, and then another 15% over the following three years.
– Then, through Cleanup Norway, we will have cleaned 70% of the outer coast in total. In addition, we will maintain particularly vulnerable areas that have been cleaned earlier in the program, says Lind.
The Environment Fund leader is optimistic about the future.
– By delegating the daily operation of Cleanup Norway to SALT, we also free up resources that we can use to gather more knowledge through cleanup activities and apply this knowledge to the fund's other work in removing and preventing pollution, concludes Lind.
About SALT
- SALT is a marine knowledge company working with research, advisory, and communication within the fields of marine litter, marine management, and forward-looking coastal communities. SALT has its headquarters in Svolvær in Lofoten, and branch offices along large parts of the coast.
- SALT has been working in the field of marine litter since 2010 and has led a wide range of research, prevention, and cleanup projects both nationally and internationally.
- SALT has been responsible for the implementation of the Cleanup Norway program in Troms and Finnmark, Nordland, Trøndelag, Agder, and Svalbard.
