The Catalan Waste Agency has rescheduled actions to be carried out within the framework of the Let’s Clean Up Europe campaign, a European initiative aimed at getting people involved in cleaning up natural spaces. The activities were originally scheduled to take place last month but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The new dates are 18 to 20 September.

The Catalan Waste Agency will coordinate the planned actions, undertaken by government agencies, environmental organisations, hiking centres, primary and secondary schools, associations, NGOs and the general public.

Raising public awareness

The actions are aimed at tackling environmental problems caused by uncontrolled dumping in natural spaces in order to avoid any risk of contamination and restore natural habitats and landscapes. Another goal is to raise awareness among the public, given that participating in the actions allows people to see the effects of anti-social behaviours first-hand.

The aim is to show that waste is in fact a resource. If collected separately, paper, glass, metals and plastic can be recycled. Apart from reducing the environmental impact of the waste we generate, recycling creates economic opportunities and jobs and contributes to creating a more circular economy in Europe. Last year, 16,840 registered clean-up actions were carried out around Europe. Catalonia contributed with 309 clean-up actions in 37 counties, with over 20,500 volunteers collecting a total of 86 tons of waste.

The Let’s Clean Up Europe campaign is coordinated by the LIFE+ project European Week for Waste Reduction.