In Les Sables-d’Olonne, cleaning operation of wild beaches after high tides

Commando operation this weekend on the beach of Sauveterre in Les Sables-d’Olonne. A beach located on the wild coast and classified as a Natura 2000 zone, which prohibits any passage of mechanical vehicles. Cleaning must therefore be done with elbow grease with volunteers who walk the shore to pick up all kinds of waste. “The idea is that when we go for a walk on the beach, everyone comes back with two or three pieces of waste, plastic bottles and the like. And if this is done permanently, I hope that we will no longer need to organize this type of event“, hopes Donatien Chéreau, elected to the town hall of Les Sables and delegate to the coast and the marshes.

Every year, many of them respond to this cleaning operation. 150 this weekend, armed with garbage bags. Their main target: plastic, in all its forms. And in particular small balls, often translucent, difficult to spot but extremely harmful to marine flora and fauna. “It is the raw material that is then used to make plastic objects. It really comes from transport, when containers fall from cargo ships during storms“, explains Donatien Chéreau.

In the end, more than forty kilos of plastic micro-waste were collected this weekend. Plastic that will be fully recycled, just like the ton of wood recovered from the sand. Good news, however, in the opinion of several participants accustomed to these cleaning operations: there was less waste to pick up than the previous times.