Volvo’s plan to save the ocean

Volvo is trying to clean up Sydney Harbour.

To celebrate World Environment Day, the Swedish brand has launched a ‘Living Seawall’ into the harbour to help replace lost mangroves.

Volvo has partnered with Reef Design Lab, a eco-engineering design studio, and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science for the project.

The Seawall will consist of 50 concrete tiles reinforced with recycled plastic fibres, each measuring 55cm x 55cm. The tiles have been 3D printed with small alcoves that Volvo says mimic the root structure of a mangrove.

The hope is small sea creatures, oysters, fish and filter feeding organisms, will live on the artificial seawall. This will help replace the mangroves that used to be found in Sydney Harbour but have been lost over the last 230 years.

The seawall project is an extension of Volvo’s involvement in cleaning up plastic waste found in the oceans. It is also part of the company’s 2025 vision for a sustainable future, by which time it hopes to have sold one million electrified vehicles.

“With eight million tonnes of plastic finding their way into our oceans each year, researchers agree that simply 'cleaning' the ocean and removing all of the plastic is not feasible,” said Nick Connor, Volvo Australia’s managing director.

“Solving the scourge of plastic pollution requires different thinking and local innovative solutions. There is a Swedish word, omtanke, which means 'caring' and 'consideration'. But it also means 'to think again'. I think this really captures what we are trying to achieve with the Living Seawall, and it sums up Volvo's approach to sustainability and design in general. At Volvo we are always trying to rethink, reinvent, redesign for the better of people and the world we live in.”