20 May '14
Organisations partner up for a waste-free North Sea
Summary
A number of Flemish organisations will co-operate to clean up the North Sea and find ways to recycle the waste
Partners will bring waste to land for disposal
Six organisations that are part of the directorate-general Environment – the Foundation for Sustainable Fishery Development, the Healthy Seas Project, Ecoduikers, Waste Free Oceans, DEME and VLOOT – have committed themselves to a collaboration for a waste-free North Sea.
The agreement is part of the programme “Together towards a waste-free North Sea”, set up in 2012 by the non-profit organisations Sustainable Fishery Development and WasteFreeOceans.
The partners will be co-operating mainly to clean up waste around shipwrecks and bring the marine waste to land via their ships. VLOOT has promised to install benches, created with recycled marine waste by company EKOL from Houthalen-Helchteren, at the ferry services in Ostend and Nieuwpoort. Information boards will explain the importance of a waste-free North Sea.
Flemish coast
The Flemish coast is a 67-kilometre sandy stretch on the North Sea. With its wide beaches, quiet dunes and polders, it’s Flanders’ most-visited tourist attraction.
Day-trippers - A two-hour drive at worst from most Flemish cities, the coast especially draws day tourists during the summer.
Kusttram - Connecting Knokke all the way to De Panne, the “Coast Tram” is the staple means of transportation along the coast. It’s the longest tramline in the world.
Theater Aan Zee - Every summer, a 10-day music and theatre festival is organised in and around Ostend.
10
coast municipalities
67
kilometres long
3
million visitors annually
- Visit Flanders
- The Belgian Coast
- Westtoer
