In recent days, 127,211 pieces of litter have been collected across the country as part of the annual World Cleanup Day. In the Netherlands, more than 39,000 volunteers took part in the clean-up campaign yesterday, spread over 2500 places. Earlier this week there was already a special promotion in schools.
According to the organization, the cigarette butt is the most commonly found waste type. In second place is packaging material, followed by cans. Just like last year, plastic was by far the most commonly found material. Plastic contained in 74 percent of the waste.
For the second year in a row, Red Bull is number 1 on the list of producers whose products contribute the most to litter. Marlboro is number 2, followed by McDonald’s and Heineken.
7 million units worldwide
Worldwide, a total of almost 7 million pieces of waste were cleared in 180 countries. The Dutch edition was opened yesterday in a livestream on Facebook by European Commissioner Frans Timmermans. The Plastic Soup Foundation and the NederlandSchoon foundation organized the Dutch edition.
“We are very proud of the success of this edition of World Cleanup Day”, says Helene van Zutphen, director of NederlandSchoon. “It is admirable that so many local residents, students, companies and organizations got together this year.”
Last year Some 16,000 Dutch people at 1400 locations participated in the clean-up campaign. Then 78,000 pieces of litter were registered. Then cans topped the list, followed by snack and candy packaging.
–
