AS Roma committed to remove 30,000 kg of marine and coastal waste within one year, in collaboration with Ogyre—framing the effort not only as collection, but as a combined pathway of collection and education. This approach links local behavior to ocean outcomes, because plastic in the Ocean rarely “starts” at sea: it moves through cities, enters rivers, and accumulates in marine environments. As a result, urban areas become a critical point of intervention, where river cleanups can intercept ocean-bound waste before it reaches the sea, while awareness activities translate this mechanism into informed, everyday choices.

Before a match at the Stadio Olimpico in November 2025, AS Roma and Ogyre held an awareness session in the Press Room with over 40 players from the AS Roma Youth Academy (U13–U14) to mark the first milestone of the collaboration: 15,000 kg of marine waste collected.

The focus moved beyond the result to the mechanism behind it: plastic does not start in the Ocean. Around 80% of marine waste is generated from land-based sources and carried by rain and surface runoff into rivers, which then transport it downstream into marine environments. 

Once in the Ocean, materials persist, fragment, and accumulate over time, making removal increasingly complex. Ogyre’s fleet in Italy, Brazil, Indonesia, and Senegal intervenes along this pathway, collecting waste in the sea and intercepting coastal waste before it reaches marine environments.

Local behavior links to this system: daily choices—use, disposal, sorting—are reframed as direct drivers of what enters rivers and, ultimately, the Ocean.

In April 2026, AS Roma Youth Academy players (U13–U14), together with U17 men’s and U19 women’s players, took part in an activity organized with Ogyre to collect ocean-bound waste along the Tiber, turning what they had learned at the Stadio Olimpico into concrete action on the ground.

In just one hour, more than 90 kg of waste accumulated along the riverbanks—plastic bottles, packaging, bulky items—were removed from a single area. The scale was local, but the pathway remained the same: without intercepting ocean-bound waste along the Tiber River, these materials would have continued downstream into marine environments.

The process extended beyond removal. Collected materials were disposed of by Roma’s waste management service AMA and recorded by Ogyre, contributing to a citizen science platform monitoring waste dispersion, where each item became part of a broader dataset.

Finally, the AS Roma players took part in an immersive experience using interactive 3D viewers, allowing them to follow the entire journey of waste with their own eyes—from the moment it is collected to its final disposal.

On one hand, awareness explains the system, but on its own it does not change outcomes. On the other hand, action removes waste, but without understanding it remains local and temporary.

When the two are combined, the impact becomes continuous: the same mechanism that drives pollution is addressed at its source, through informed behavior and direct intervention. In this sense, turning awareness into action is not a message, but a process—one that starts inland, long before waste reaches the Ocean.