Tens of thousands of cigarette butts picked up during beach clean up
The annual beach cleanup campaign against litter in Zandvoort has led to thousands of kilos of waste being removed and tens of thousands of cigarette butts being collected, RTL has reported.
The campaign ends on Friday, having been ongoing for two weeks. The North Sea Foundation initiated the “Boskalis Beach Cleanup Tour” with the aim of mobilizing Dutch citizens to clean the entire North Sea coast. “Every piece of litter you pick up never ends up in the environment,” said North Sea Foundation director Ewout van Galen.
The cleanup campaign is also meant to raise awareness so that people can see for themselves how bad the issue of beach litter in the Netherlands is, Van Galen said.
Van Galen was unsurprised by the number of cigarette butts that were found in Zandvoort. “Last year, we found no less than 70,000 there,” Van Galen said. The cigarettes are very damaging to the environment because the filter is made of plastic, and therefore, does not break down in the environment. “And such a cigarette filter is full of toxic substances, such as mercury, lead, and nicotine. A single filter can pollute as much as a thousand liters of water.”
According to the North Sea Foundation’s research, they find 282 pieces of litter on an average of 100 meters of beach. The foundation also finds waste at less popular beaches, often from shipping or fisheries. This is often nets, bottle caps, or discarded helium or party balloons.
Van Galen has stated that although the cleanup helps, he would like to see measures put in place to stop the flow of litter. He has advocated for smoke-free areas on beaches as one of the measures.
A petition to support this can be signed on the website of the North Sea Foundation.
