Zeeland Beaches Cleanest

The cleanest beaches in the Netherlands are this year again in Zeeland. As many as nine Zeeland beaches are in the Top 10 Cleanest Beaches of Netherlands Clean. This was announced by the jury chairman and ANWB director Guido van Woerkom on Monday.

The first three places are occupied by Domburg, Nieuwvliet and North Beveland, with almost identical scores. The only 'odd man out' is the beach of Julianadorp at Den Helder, which holds the fifth place.

For the first time, the cleanest beaches were not only chosen by an inspection of the ANWB. Unlike other years, the public had this year an equal voice in the matter. So half of the result was due to the opinion of the beach visitors.

The beach of Julianadorp at Den Helder was this year's biggest gainer. The cleaning of the Julianadorp beach was improved and that is paying off, "said project leader Henk Klein Teeselink of Netherlands Clean. Most beaches in South and North Holland can learn something from this case, according to Klein.

A major problem is according to the inspection the large number of  cigarette butts on the beaches. There should be more bins at the right places, thinks Inspector John Leijer of the ANWB. "You see that where the facilities are implemented, these work well," says Meijer.