The initiative "Let's Clean Up the Danube Together" was launched in Vidin last week, during the Danube Day activities. The action is coordinated by the Waste Free Oceans Foundation and is jointly implemented with the help of Plastix, Bulgaria Cap Project, Henkel and Eco Partners. The initiative is part of a bigger Waste Free Oceans project of hotspot clean-ups and remediation actions in the Danube river basin, starting from Bulgaria and working towards the Black Sea, and in the Mediterranean, in close cooperation with strong international partners. The project promotes the protection of the waters and shores and the importance of separate collection and recycling of waste.
During the presentation, Bernard Merkx, Waste Free Oceans Co-founder, talked about the biggest environmental pollutants and the measures taken at international level to reduce the pollution of rivers and oceans from plastic waste.
Vidin is the first city where environmental actions have been held involving young people within the framework of the initiative to clean up the Danube. During the course of the year, accumulated debris will also be collected from other areas, selected on the basis of a detailed analysis of how the currents and geographic features of the river cause the accumulation of plastic waste.
The Danube project is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Waters in Bulgaria, the Danube River Basin Directorate, the Black Sea Basin Directorte and the Bulgarian Association Polymers.
More companies have recently joined WFO's efforts of reducing the amount of floating debris, including the apparel manufacturer Pielleitalia, the plastics manufacturers Alpla and Semadeni and the plastics recycler Corepla.