September 19, 2020
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. Numerous actions will be organized in the coming days so participation is still possible. It is estimated that between World Cleanup Day (19 September) and World Rivers Day (27 September) around 60,000 Belgians will have participated in an action.
Every year around 8 billion kilograms of waste ends up in our seas and oceans. 80% of that waste ends up there through rivers. Belgian non-profit organization River Cleanup wants to make people aware of this problem and encourages them to take action themselves.
Today on World Cleanup Day, River Cleanup organized major actions in Antwerp and Ghent. Antwerp functioned as the main location for the Scheldt. Zuhal Demir, Flemish Minister of Environment and Energy, participated together with 400 volunteers. Kayakers went onto the water to collect waste from the docks.
The River Cleanup action in Ghent attracted about 200 volunteers. Numerous volunteers also registered a cleanup action of their own.
Sunday 20 September River Cleanup actions will take place in Leuven and Brussels. About 500 participants are expected to be there. On the occasion of World Rivers Day on September 27th, River Cleanup will organize an action in Liege on Saturday September 26th and one in Namur on Sunday September 27th.
Presumably around 60,000 Belgians will have participated in an action of River Cleanup, Eneco Clean Beach Cup, JCI Belgium, Bewapp or Mooimakers between World Cleanup Day and World Rivers Day.