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In July 2021, exceptional rainfall caused the Vesder and Ourthe rivers to overflow. The resulting floods caused unprecedented destruction, leaving both people and nature distressed. Three years after the floods in Wallonia, River Cleanup volunteers are rolling up their sleeves one last time. After 240 clean-up efforts, the job is finally completed.

In five years, the Belgian non-profit organization River Cleanup has collected over 3.5 million kg of waste in and around rivers across 100 countries. But the battle is far from won yet. The start-up is growing into a scale-up aiming for an even more significant impact and a new strategy. For this growth phase, River Cleanup is bringing Tames Rietdijk (ex-director of The Ocean Cleanup) on board.

BLOG: January 2024, we visited one of our key projects in Bandung to confirm the location to test the Clean River Model. We joined the daily actions, felt the energy of the River Cleanup School program and discussed the further implementation of our Clean River Model with the local government and policy makers.

29/06/2023 - The Waste Watchers project engages citizens to use drones to photograph the river Scheldt's banks. Artificial Intelligence then detects where most of the litter is located. This VITO and River Cleanup research project is a world first, the first time the wider public is involved by using their drones to identify litter.

World Cleanup Day took place on Saturday, 16 September, involving millions of volunteers in more than 191 countries who joined forces to clean up litter. River Cleanup, a Belgian non-profit organization that cleans up rivers worldwide to prevent plastics from reaching our oceans, organized more than 66 cleanup campaigns around the globe, including three in this country. In Belgium, approximately 427 volunteers rolled up their sleeves for 1020 kilos of cleared litter.

We are challenging people around the world to pick up litter for 10 minutes from April 22nd (Earth Day) to June 8th (World Ocean Day). Everyone is invited to go outside and get stuck in, looking for litter near rivers or on streets, or any other place with lots of roadside litter.

River Cleanup survey into the awareness and attitude of Belgians with regard to plastic pollution:

- Belgians consider plastic pollution to be the 2nd most impactful environmental issue, after air pollution
- 1 in 3 Belgians believe they themselves can do little to counteract plastic pollution
- Almost 1 in 4 Belgians (22%) admits to littering
- 2 in 3 Belgians drink water from plastic bottles as opposed to tap water
- 28% of the Belgian population doesn’t sort PMD at work, while 8% don’t sort waste at all
- Belgians believe that, on average, only 50% of the PMD bag is recycled

Europe turns off the plastic tap - Every year, millions of tons of plastic waste from Europe end up in countries outside the EU. There, the plastic ends up in landfills or is incinerated, a toxic process that releases toxins into nature. The European Parliament is now putting an end to this by voting for a historic ban on the export of plastic waste. From now on, EU countries will be obliged to take responsibility and process their own waste. A welcome step in the right direction, but the road is still long.

Ghent, 28 October 2022 – River Cleanup has launched the River Skimmer 2.0 today at Dok Noord in Ghent. The device, an improved version of the first River Skimmer, uses innovative technology to collect floating litter non-stop and effectively clean up our waterways. The new River Skimmer was introduced and officially baptized at the press event. Volunteers then rolled up their sleeves to clean up litter in and around the dock.

River Cleanup is about to launch a new machine to remove rubbish from water. The Belgian non-profit organisation that strives for plastic-free rivers has collected over one million kilograms of waste in the past three years. In the meantime, the target is no longer a question of kilograms, but of global impact.

In under two years, we have mobilized 6,130 volunteers and collected 1,266,687 kg of river waste, including 928,382 kg of plastic. In addition, we harvested 337,192 kg thanks to Ecobins.

“Here we are, one year after our very first River Solidarity Event. 1 year, 117 cleanups along 4 rivers, over 6000 volunteers in 19 affected communities, 193 000 kg of collected river waste and 35 km of riverbanks along the Vesder were cleared.”

In May 2022 we took an amazing trip to Albania where we educated and inspired school children.

Every year, eleven billion kilograms of plastic end up in our oceans, most of it coming from rivers. River Cleanup, a partner of A.S.Adventure, tries to prevent this. One place it does this is in Albania, where one of the most polluted rivers in Europe flows into the Mediterranean.

Volunteers from Belgian NGO River Cleanup collect 2600 kg of waste at the Antwerp Scheldt bend.

On 2nd April Saturday Bigger Trishuli river cleanup campaign have been organized by Let’s Clean Up Nepal (LCUN) in assistance and support from River Cleanup Belgium. LCUN is a nonprofit organization that has been working in an environmental sector to make the cleaner green Nepal by organizing different environment related campaigns throughout the nation.

Hoboken - About one hundred employees of A.S.Adventure collected no less than 321 kilograms of waste along the banks of the Scheldt in Hoboken. They did so on the occasion of World Water Day and to highlight the collaboration with River Cleanup. "To change things on a large scale, we need to work together," says Thomas de Groote of River Cleanup.

Article by Gazet van Antwerpen

"In the end we are doing what every start-up does: looking for ways to make our approach scalable"

One million kilogrammes: that's how much plastic the Belgian NGO River Cleanup has already removed from rivers and river banks. But for founder Thomas de Groote, that milestone is only one small step along the way. By 2025, he wants to see 100 million kilos of plastic taken out of the world's rivers.

Albania hosts one of our main projects at the Ishëm River, one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. Every year, over 733 000 kg of plastics flow through into the Adriatic Sea.

An important milestone celebrated in the presence of Minister Zuhal Demir

Antwerp, February 11, 2022 – Yesterday, the Belgian NGO, River Cleanup has collected the very last symbolic kilo of the 1 million kg of plastic at the new circular Blue Gate site in Antwerp. The organisation celebrated this historic milestone during the hybrid River Cleanup Impact Event, together with Minister Zuhal Demir. In the presence of partners, the organisation reflected on past achievements and presented its ambitious goals for 2025.

After two years our team made it do Bandung, Indonesia. We are there to clean up the Citarum river together with our partner Plastic Fischer.

On July 14th and 15th heavy rains afflicted Belgium. In Wallonia, this lead to deadly floods that affected thousands of people and a huge area of nature. River Cleanup took action right away. First by helping people in need and later by organizing bigger actions to help nature. 

Ghent, 19 September 2021 – According to annual custom, River Cleanup, Eneco Clean Beach Cup, Proper Strand Lopers, World Cleanup Day Belgium, Mooimakers and Be WaPP/Wallonie Plus joined forces to mobilize as many clean-up heroes as possible. Their goal? To collect as much waste as possible during the third weekend of September on World Cleanup Day. It is estimated that some 100.000 volunteers made this 4th edition day an overwhelming success.

Brussels, June 6, 2021 - Every year, around 8 billion kilograms of waste end up in our seas and oceans. To change this, River Cleanup organized River Cleanup World on Sunday, June 6, 2021. With countless small-scale, local initiatives worldwide, River Cleanup aims to prove that we all can make a difference. Over 750 actions took place in 45 countries along 160 rivers, making this second edition a huge success.

On June 6th we officially collected our 1.000.000th kg of river waste along one of the most polluted rivers in the world! This is the work of over 120.000 volunteers, starting almost 2000 actions in 45 countries in the past 4 years! We are very thankful and proud for this huge milestone, and are even more motivated to collect more in the coming months and years!

On River Cleanup World, a WFO Trawl was tested together with partner organization Waste Free Oceans and Environment and Food Foundation. Objective is to collect floating debris on the river surface and free the river

A small effort with a major impact

River Cleanup organised a #rivercleanupchallenge last month. Between World Water Day (22 March) and Earth Day (22 April) more than 1000 people enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves to clear waste in the equivalent of 10,000 minutes. Many volunteers joined forces with ministers, mayors, companies, organisations, schools, newspapers, radio stations, celebrities, DJs and festival organisers to make the world a little more ‘plastic free’.

On April 17th our Slovakian Partner Human Health Institute focused on the Danube as part of the Clean Rivers Experience - Clean Danube Experience, in which sportsmen of Kajak & kanoe klub Komárno (the most successful section of speed canoeing in Slovakia) and activists from Hungary, KÖSZ (Kisvárosi Önkéntes Szemétszedők) took part.

Antwerp, January 20, 2021 - The very first River Skimmer in Belgium was officially launched today at Oostkaai in Merksem. The River Skimmer is an initiative of River Cleanup, the Belgian nonprofit organization that raises awareness on plastic pollution along rivers and Multimaster Group. The non-profit mobilizes volunteers to take action and clean up. Many hands make light work, yet a piece of ingenious technology is the perfect complement. With the launch of the River Skimmer, River Cleanup takes an extra step towards eliminating the 8 billion kilograms of plastic that end up in our oceans every year.

River Cleanup launches sustainable year-end gift to clean up 1 million kg of river plastics in 2021
Today, the Belgian non-profit River Cleanup is launching an original end-of-year campaign to support its planned clean-up operations in 2021 at home and abroad. One River Cleanup gift certificate represents 30 kg of river plastics cleaned up in the world's most polluted rivers or in a river near you.

Let’s Do It Kosova in cooperation with the global movement River Cleanup, today carried out a cleanup action on the Istog River, from where more than 100 bags of plastic waste and mixed waste were removed, as well as nine (9) trucks with voluminous waste. This action was also supported by the municipality of Istog.

Thomas de Groote is the initiator of River Cleanup, an organisation dedicated to cleaning up plastic in and along rivers. We asked Thomas nine questions about his vision for sustainability.

A tiny little village called Budmerice located in western Slovakia also joined the international River Cleanup initiative on 27th September 2020.
A simple Facebook event and an invitation broadcasted in the local radio was enough to make 15 volunteers across all ages to show up close to the local river Gidra.

More than 60,000 volunteers participated in actions between World Cleanup Day (19/9) and World Rivers Day (27/9).

Antwerp, 19 September 2020 - Today World Cleanup Day took place, the biggest global cleanup action of the year. Millions of people cleaned up waste in more than 170 countries. In Belgium, River Cleanup, Eneco Clean Beach Cup, JCI Belgium, Bewapp and Mooimakers joined forces to mobilize as many volunteers as possible for this initiative. A total of around 10,000 Belgians took part in an action today. River Cleanup mobilized more than 3000 participants around watercourses.

River Whale successfully launched with Düsseldorf Mayor Thomas Geisel on Tuesday September 8th

On the 29th of August, 31 cleanups took place along the river Volga and its basin, supported by 400 participants and the joint effort of Let’s do it! Russia, Clean Hands Clean Rivers and River Cleanup.

During this weekend 25 teams joined the action in 4 countries. "With small-scale, individual and above all coronavirus-proof initiatives along rivers and riverbanks, River Cleanup aims to raise public awareness and make people part of the solution,” says Flora Baan, coordinator of the Hungarian actions of River Cleanup. Cleanups took place in Budapest, Dunaföldvár, Esztergom, Szentendre, Belgrád, Újvidék, Bratislava, Komárom and Marcelháza. In Hungary the action was co-organized with Let’s do it Hungary.

We unite and motivate people to take action and cleanup in or along a river nearby on every first Sunday of the month. So no normal sunday but River Sunday ;)

Brussels, June 7th 2020 - Every year, around 8 billion kilograms of waste end up in our seas and oceans. 80% of that waste is brought there by rivers. To take action to change this, River Cleanup is organising River Cleanup World on Sunday 7 June 2020. With countless small-scale, coronavirus-proof cleaning initiatives all around the world, River Cleanup aims to prove that we can all make a difference, even though no major cleanups are allowed at the moment. Over 320 actions took place in 45 countries along 161 rivers, which make this first edition a huge success!

On March 4th we visited the Elementary School De Wilg in Lint and informed and inspired over 400 children. After sharing the facts & figures on how much pollution we as a society give back to our oceans, every year (8.000.000.000 kg / year) and the impact on wildlife and our health, we show the kids we can all take action ourselves by picking up trash and avoiding our plastic footprint.