Belgium

The empower pillar focusses on making people understand that plastic pollution is a problem and cultivating a sense of responsibility to motivate them to be part of the solution. We do this in different ways. Through cleanups, such as our World Cleanup Day events, the #10minchallenge, team cleanups with inspiration sessions and River Cleanup Days in Temse, we try to open people’s eyes to the severity of the problem. With our educational program, we seek to teach children about the plastic problem and to let them come up with creative solutions to reduce the use of plastic in their own school environment. The River Cleanup University Cup rewards the most sustainability minded students and raises awareness around the plastic problem on campus. Lastly, we aim to engage with community leaders  in the Clean River Academy and educate them so they can be more effective at spreading our message.

The prevent pillar is all about preventing plastic and other waste from pollution our environment. Plastic that is never created will never end up in nature. That’s why we encourage everyone to reduce their plastic use and to shift towards low-waste or reusable alternatives. We have created a comprehensive database to help with this! We also clean up so called hotspots -places where a lot of trash is accumulated- and jump into action after natural disasters to stop pollution before it spreads, like we did in Wallonia after the floods in 2021. We are now launching the River Cleanup Response Unit to strengthen our procedures in this regard, so we are fully prepared when disaster strikes again.

Change is coming, but it has to come sooner rather than later. That is why we focus on accelerating change by doing advocacy work. The data we gathered from different sources, like the brand audits, River Watchers and Drone Project Scheldt, will be used to come up with short-term remediations and structural solutions. Then, we will work with policy makers and companies to implement them. We do all this in collaboration with like-minded organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit.

The assessment enabler exist to ensure that we work in a way that is data-driven and tailored to the local conditions. In Belgium we are running two projects to gather data with help from the public so we can work efficiently and effectively. The Drone project aims to map 125 km of the banks of the Scheldt river and with the help of AI produce heat maps to identify the most polluted areas. The River Watchers project has a similar goal, but is even more accessible, as you only need a smartphone to participate. With this project, we encourage the public to take pictures of litter, which are then processed by AI to produce an interactive litter map. Additionally, we collect data through brand audits, where we document the types of items we find and who produced them, helping us better understand the waste that ends up in nature. All this data will guide our efforts to combat plastic pollution.

Ensure the successful execution of the Clean River Model by developing a detailed, river-specific action plan and securing the necessary funding. Based on insights from the assessment, the action plan outlines specific interventions and effective project organization to realize the deliverables and mitigate risks.

We focus on tracking the progress and effectiveness of the Clean River Model interventions by regularly monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and evaluating outcomes against established baselines.

Have a look on the map below or at the upcoming events. Many cleanups are organized around the world. Find one close to you and join the cleanup!

Thinking about doing your own cleanup? Register it here on the website so other people can see it. You can also upload photos and share your experience with the River Cleanup community.

You can make a one-off or monthly donation or organize a fundraiser, for example for your birthday, wedding or an important sport event. Your contribution enables us to achieve our mission by cleaning rivers, change behavior and transforming organizations.