Rio: Bottle from the 1998 World Cup is found in Guanabara Bay – 10/26/2023 – Environment

Fishermen from Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro, found a plastic bottle commemorating the 1998 World Cup on Pontal Island, in São Gonçalo. It was among the trash on one of the bay’s beaches and was recovered by members of the Águas da Guanabara project, which removes solid waste thrown into the sea.

“When I picked up this bottle, which I pulled out of the mud, I saw the little dolls. I was close to my boss and I said: ‘Oh, what did I find, from the World Cup, from the mini-stars’. It’s a bottle that has been in the sea for a long time. good years”, says fisherman Rogério Antunes, mentioning the collectible toys that represented the players in Coca-Cola’s advertising campaign.

Despite being dirty and with barnacles, the bottle was still intact and its label had been preserved. In it you can see the illustration of the players Dunga and Romário, who were part of the brand’s gifts during the 1998 World Cup in France.

That year, anyone who wanted to collect player dolls had to collect caps and pay an additional R$2 in exchange for a mini-crack.

“The bottle even has a more resistant plastic, which at that time Coca-Cola and other companies used. It even looked like returnable packaging. Not nowadays, the plastics are thinner”, observes Antunes.

Two and a half decades later, the bottle was found earlier this month — without a cap, of course.

A PET bottle can take 200 to 600 years to decompose, according to Ibama. Thrown into the sea or rivers, this type of plastic releases toxic substances that contaminate the water.

The Águas da Guanabara project aims to remove trash from the bay. From the beginning of last year until September, the initiative has already collected almost 719 tons of solid waste.

This year alone, the amount of garbage removed was 317 tons. According to the project, most of the waste collected has industrial origin and comes from non-durable consumer goods.

In order, the most commonly found list of rubbish is: PET bottles, tires, plastics in general (cups, dolls, chairs, jars of butter, among others), fabrics, cans, glass bottles and plastic bags.

“I’m a fisherman and I have three daughters. I make a living from fishing and that’s how I raise my daughters. I need the fish in Guanabara Bay to improve”, says Antunes, who is part of the Z8 fishing colony, in Niterói.

“That’s why I give my soul, my heart to this project.”

Águas da Guanabara is run by Feperj (Federation of Fishermen of the State of Rio de Janeiro) and has a partnership with fishermen from the bay. According to the entity, all trash removed from the coast is sent to local city halls for proper disposal.