Students from Torre del Rei in Oropesa del Mar participate in the cleaning of the Renegà

With this initiative, which is part of the Mares Circulares program, more than 50 kilos of waste have been collected

The Department of Tourism and the Environment of the Oropesa del Mar City Council, the Chelonia Association and 85 volunteer students of the first year of ESO from the Torre del Rei institute have participated in a waste collection day on the Renegà beach, an initiative organized by the City Council and Coca-Cola with which a total of 50,293 kilos of waste has been collected.

This is an action that is part of the Circular Seas program, developed by the Chelonia Association, the Ecomar Foundation and the Vertidos Cero Association and promoted by Coca-Cola, whose objective is to collect waste from beaches, seabeds and aquatic environments and, above all, "to make the public and, in this specific case, our young people aware of the importance of keeping these spaces clean".

This was explained by the Councilor for the Environment, Jordi Llopis, who wanted to highlight "the good predisposition and attitude on the part of the students who have participated in this initiative, who have been able to see up close the amount of waste deposited in the beach, especially microplastics and cigarette butts”. However, Llopis has revealed that "in this cleanup half the garbage has been collected than in previous actions, a sign that citizen awareness and the cleaning work of volunteers have paid off."

In this sense, the conference, which has been directed by the person in charge of the Chelonia Association project, César Pérez, has focused on the current problem caused by plastic spillage in the marine ecosystem. All the data collected from waste collection will be used by the Torre del Rei institute to develop its project entitled 'Mars de Plàstic'.

It should be remembered that the Circular Seas project has the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the General Secretariat of Fisheries, and also contemplates civil and citizen collaboration through more than 170 public and private organizations between municipalities, NGOs, universities and associations.