From Trash to Triumph - a personal interview about the beginnings of Plastic Cup by ICPDR

Aquatic Plastic’s Lead Partner Plastic Cup Association is an international environmental initiative, where river pollution experts work shoulder to shoulder to stop the tide of plastic in freshwater ecosystems. But how did it all start? How did the first plastic pirates feel, when they set foot on the first plastic bottle boats? ICPDR’s Helene Masliah Gilkarov asked Dávid Attila Molnár, the co-founder of Plastic Cup about his personal experience.

Plastic Cup co-founder Dávid Attila Molnár rowing the ‘Guinea Pigs’, a plastic bottle boat in 2013 on the Tisza river, along with his family

"Only a very few people have taken part in every one river cleanup that the Plastic Cup initiative has ever organised in the Danube River Basin, and I am proud to be one of them” - says Dávid Attila Molnár, who set sail on a fragile plastic bottle boat with his entire family: wife, kids, and a dog. Helene Masliah Gilkarov was interested, how Attila could handle the challenge emotionally, more than 12 years ago. As she explains âthe ICPDR is proud to support innovative projects such as the PLASTIC Cup initiative. By fostering partnerships with organizations dedicated to environmental stewardship, we aim to promote community engagement and raise awareness about the impact of plastic waste. The PLASTIC Cup’s unique approach — transforming plastic waste into functional and symbolic vessels for river clean-up — demonstrates a proactive and creative response to one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. Through this joint effort, we seek to drive collective action, inspire change, and contribute to a cleaner, healthier, and safer Danube River Basin for future generations."

Link to the full interview:

https://www.icpdr.org/tasks-topics/topics/pollution/plastics/turning-trash-triumph-story-plastic-cup