Pelt (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Nearly 26,000 Mooimakers volunteers collected 1,100 tons of litter in Flanders last year. Antwerp led with 10,200 volunteers. Dirk Claes and Lizette Daniels from Pelt show dedication.
As VRT News reported, volunteers are playing a major role in keeping Flanders clean. Last year, about 5,500 tons of litter were collected across the region. Around 1,100 tons of this litter, or 20%, were cleaned up by nearly 26,000 volunteers organised by Mooimakers. This is 400 more volunteers than in 2023.
How are 26,000 Mooimakers volunteers in Pelt and Flanders keeping communities clean?
Antwerp had the most volunteers, with about 10,200 people, who collected 300 tons of litter. Limburg, the smallest province in population, had just under 3,300 volunteers. They collected around 240 tons of litter, the same as Flemish Brabant, where 4,300 volunteers were active.
“They’re doing a great job, and they all deserve appreciation,”
says Flemish Environment Minister Jo Brouns (CD8V), who also got to work this morning with a garbage bag and a grabber.
“As Flemish people, we’re massively annoyed by the problem of litter, so we urge everyone to dispose of their waste correctly.”
“I’ve been a volunteer for 13 years,”
says Jan Claes from Pelt, holding a half-filled garbage bag of cigarette butts and plastic bottle caps.
“I clean up two to three times a week along a fixed 2.5-kilometre route from Sint-Huibrechts-Lille to Neerpelt, and I usually have about 10 bags of litter. 25 percent of that is cans.”
“I fell into the canal once, but then I got changed at home and continued cleaning up litter.”
Beautifier Jan Claes
Dirk Claes from Pelt is a volunteer who takes his work very seriously. While cleaning along a canal, he saw a bottle lying among the cobblestones in the water. He reached for it with his litter grabber, but the stones slipped under his feet. Claes fell into the canal twice before he managed to get out.
“That was around the same time of year as now, but luckily I was warmly dressed,”
Claes continues. He got out of the water himself and then went home.
“I dressed warmly again at home and started again. I’m a bit more cautious these days, though, because I’ll be 76 next week.”
Other volunteers take a different approach by combining clean-up work with family time. Lizette Daniels picks up litter with her grandchildren. Together, they walk through streets, parks, and public areas collecting trash.
“We take the dog and walk through the woods,”
says Daniels.
“We take a cart with a bin for trash and a cardboard box for glass. We even find trash from McDonald’s in Lommel here in Pelt. I don’t understand that.”
“I clean up litter in 20 regions,”
says Marina Vandersteen.
“We agree on which Mooimakers clean up where to avoid duplication of effort. When I find cans, I check if there’s a deposit on them. With the money I get from redeeming them, I buy something at Albert Hein in the Netherlands, or you can donate it to charity.”
The cleanup work in Flanders is organised by Mooimakers, a partnership between OVAM, local governments, and recycling organisations. The program started to fight litter and illegal dumping across the region. Since 2022, volunteers have been able to use the “Mijn Mooie Straat” app to log their cleanups, report problem areas, and coordinate with municipalities.
In 2023, about 25,500 volunteers took part in the program and collected roughly 1,140 tons of litter, which was about 17% of all litter removed in Flanders that year. The campaign is anchored by an annual spring cleanup, held from March 22 to April 6, but volunteers continue their work throughout the year.
