You have probably seen them on the beaches if you walk early in the morning. Large machines stir the sand, often daily, to make it smooth and pleasant. They pick up cigarette butts, plastics and other discarded waste… but are also devastating for biodiversity. This is indicated by the results of a study conducted by the Marine Park of the Gulf of Lion.
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The survey, carried out in several municipalities between Leucate and Argelès-sur-Mer between 2011 and 2021, indicates that they have all reduced their mechanical passages, except for one municipality, which has rehired screeners because of tourist pressure. “Today, we see that there has been a change. New elected officials have arrived and are taking advantage of the media frenzy that there has been on certain coastal risk issues, particularly on erosion. They integrated the fact that certain practices could be negative“, indicates Grégory Agin, in charge of the investigation at the Marine Park of the Gulf of Lion.
In the Hérault, while some municipalities have moved beyond manual cleaning, the majority have remained mechanical. To the delight of a few swimmers, who came to cool off at Valras beach. At only 10 a.m., there is already some rubbish on the sand. “Look, next to my napkin is a packet of hot pizza sauce.“, denounces Huguette, a regular. She wants a completely clean beach, at all costs. “I find smooth beaches very pleasing to the eye, and that’s a sign of cleanliness, we appreciate it.”
Pressure from vacationers
The city of Valras is well aware that it disturbs the small animals and micro-organisms buried in the sand. But it is difficult to go against bathers, according to Sébastien Vieu, deputy in charge of the environment: “We get the impression, perhaps wrongly, that beach users are not ready. When the screener does not pass for two days, it is true that we have complaints at the town hall asking us why the beach has not been cleaned.”
When the screener does not pass for two days, it is true that we have complaints at the town hall asking us why the beach has not been cleaned
Another constraint: the collection of cigarette butts and small waste, almost impossible manually, because they are too buried. The sifter can stir up sand up to 30 centimeters deep. “A cigarette butt is 500 liters of polluted seawater, and it takes 3 years to degrade. The sifter will surely be a brake on terrestrial fauna but the fact of picking up so many cigarette butts will avoid this pollution that we will add to the sea.“, explains Sébastien Vieu.
A cigarette butt is 500 liters of polluted seawater
Constraint of time and money
The City of Marseillan did not know that this type of collection killed biodiversity and promote erosion. The mayor, Yves Michel, follows government guidelines to the letter for its 4 kilometers of urban beach. “If tomorrow he [le nettoyage] had to be done manually, we would have to have prescriptions: how often, how we can do it…” The town of Agde, either, does not opt for manual cleaning. A practice deemed too costly in time and money, according to the mayor, for the 10 kilometers of beach. However, according to the survey, mechanical cleaning would be a little more expensive, especially with the cost of machines and gasoline.
Portiragnes, on the other hand, has switched to reasoned cleaning along its entire coastline. Only 3 mechanical passages per month. “We don’t have a very extensive coastline”, says Mayor Gwendoline Chaudoir. Regarding cigarette butts, she found the solution: “_At all our aid stations we distribute beach ashtrays and we raise awareness among users who respond well to this initiative._.“Portiragnes also organizes workshops throughout the year to raise awareness among young people about environmental protection.
The idea, therefore, would remain to raise awareness as much as possible to avoid ending up with waste thrown away by bathers.