Tens of thousands of volunteers collected rubbish on the Rhine and other rivers on Saturday.

"We had an uncertain weather forecast that may have stopped one or the other", said the initiator of the day of action "RhineCleanUp 2021", Joachim Umbach.

He is very satisfied with the number of participants.

The self-set goal - more than 40,000 participants - will still be achieved, as many of the 470 groups would not start until this Sunday, for example in Switzerland or the Netherlands.

Umbach was initially unable to provide any specific information on the amount of waste collected - especially since the feedback was very different.

The amount of waste on the Moselle and Middle Rhine has increased significantly, which is related to the flood disaster in mid-July.

It was also noticeable that larger pieces of garbage were collected.

Against plastic waste

Last year, according to Umbach, 320 tons were collected across Europe.

This number will certainly be reached again this year, if not even exceeded, he said in a preliminary balance sheet.

The “CleanUp 2021” is no longer just about the Rhine, but also about other rivers. Among other things, the banks of the Moselle, Ruhr, Main, Lahn and Kinzig (Baden-Württemberg) should be cleared of rubbish. The campaign aims on the one hand to prevent even more plastic waste from ending up in the oceans, and on the other hand to raise awareness that garbage should not simply be thrown into the environment. According to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley Association, experts assume that the Rhine alone flushes 380 tons of plastic into the North Sea every year.

According to the information, the “CleanUp winner” this year was Düsseldorf with around 3000 participants, Mainz and Cologne with around 1000 volunteers each in second place.

The river results in detail: Rhine (19,000 participants), Mosel (7,000), Ruhr (6000), Main (2000), Nahe (800), Lahn (200), Kinzig (Baden-Württemberg / 200), Wiese (200) , Neckar (50).

According to the organizers, a total of 470 groups in over 200 municipalities wanted to take part.

The Rhineland-Palatinate climate protection minister Anne Spiegel (Greens), who took part in the campaign herself, spoke of an important signal to raise the population's awareness of the extent of the littering of the landscape and the effects on water bodies.

Plastic pollution and its consequences in the water ecosystems are particularly worrying, she said.