Thousands of volunteers clean up beaches along the Dutch and Belgian coast, Eneco Clean Beach Cup

The 14th edition of the Eneco Clean Beach Cup begins on Sunday. Thousands of volunteers will remove trash in at least 26 locations along the Dutch and Belgian coast.

According to the organization, last year some 3,000 participants removed more than 5,000 kilos of waste. In addition to cleaning up beaches, the annual event aims to make people aware of the impact of littering. Plastic waste in particular "has disastrous effects on the health and biodiversity of beaches and oceans," the organization said.

The location that gets the most volunteers to the beach receives a prize, the so-called Eneco Clean Beach Cup.

Since 2010, the organization Eneco Clean Beach Cup has been campaigning for Belgians and Dutch to do more against plastic waste and raising awareness of the issue of environmental pollution, according to the organizations website.