in Biarritz, a boat crisscrosses the coast all summer to collect plastic waste

“We pass between the rocks to look for our public enemy number 1 which is plastic”, announces the captain of the boat The Collector. At the controls of his catamaran, he begins his tourbetween the Biarritz lighthouse and the castle of IIbaritz. “We have an application that allows us to have data. And otherwise we do visuals, as soon as we see something, we go straight to it”, explains Patrick Rolle, who has been collecting plastic bottles and floating waste along the Biarritz coast since June.

Today the ocean is quite calm, no current and no litter in sight. Which is not always the case according to Camille, a sailor. “Sometimes we go around several times and there is nothing. Then suddenly there is the tide which changes and then a current which is created and there we end up finding things. It is really variable” , says the young woman.

“If there is a storm, three days later we are sure that there is plastic, since 80% of the plastics that arrive in the ocean come from the rivers.”

Camille, sailor

at franceinfo

For small waste Camille uses her landing net. For the bigger ones she activates the treadmill in the middle of the boat: “We have two small hatches that go from one hull to another to collect all the waste on the carpet and everything will automatically fall into these bins”.

The team mainly collects plastic beach toys, lots of plastic bags and lollipop sticks. “Every time we pick up a quantity of plastic waste in the ocean, it’s plastic that won’t harm marine life and won’t end up on our plates. It’s always taken!”

After two hours out at sea, no plastic in sight, much to Camille’s delight: “We are happy about that too, we are not happy to pick up plastic.”

Once on land, the city of Biarritz collects the bags of already sorted waste. She finances The Collector up to 60,000 euros, only in the summer season. But Mathieu Kayser, deputy to the environment of the city would like to do more. “It’s just that it requires a huge cost from the city. Today we can’t afford it”, laments the chosen one.

The challenge for the city of Biarritz is to be “efficient”. For Mathieu Kayser, we must “be sure that the technology used, that is to say either the boat, or the application, or the forecasting model for the movement of waste at sea, can be the most efficient so that it is the least expensive”. the collector will end its waste pick-up tour at sea on September 15. Boaters and swimmers can report plastic slicks at sea using the Clean My Sea app.