More than 3,000 participants collected 3.7 tons of waste during the Eneco Clean Beach Cup

A combination of beach walks and spring cleaning has drawn many volunteers to the North Sea beach this afternoon. Families, youth, friends, colleagues, associations and sports clubs rolled up their sleeves to clean the beaches with the start of the water sports season. Last year, 5 tons of waste were collected, and this year it reached 3.7 tons.

Garbage and plastic waste from all over the country ends up at sea through waterways and washes up on Belgian beaches. On average, there are 137 pieces of waste per 100 meters of tide line.

Not only surfers face this problem every day, but horse fishermen also often find plastics in their nets. That's why horse hunter Günter Vanbloo, among others, is trying to educate people. “I show them the waste we remove from our windows every day,” he says. “It opens their eyes.” “After all these years as a horse hunter, I have noticed that children are more interested in the environment than before.”

The Eneco Clean Beach Cup is once again covered with animation, live music, beach games and educational projects such as the Education Dome. There visitors can attend workshops and lectures. Musician and Koksijde resident Piet Goddaer, also known as Ozark Henry, composed a song about waste especially for the Eneco Clean Beach Cup, which he performed live on Sunday.