Tid(y)Up partners got acquainted with the plastic pirate protocol of river cleanups in June, 2021 on the Tisza Lake in Hungary. Few weeks later, in September 2021 came the time to put things in action in Slovakia, on the upper sections of the Bodrog river. Field reportage with a special VIDEO SUMMARY.

Cleaning up a riverside plastic deposit in the floodplain forest of the Bodrog

Coordinated by the Agency for the Support of Regional Development Košice, Slovakia, the cleanup event was organized in cooperation with the Slovak Water Management Company – Bodrog river management  and river rafting Agency Splavujeme.sk. The cleanup was carried out within the Tid(y)Up project, which is funded by the Danube Transnational Programme, under the supervision of project leading partner THU and its riverine waste management experts from the Plastic Cup initiative.

The participants of the cleanup were dealing with drifting plastic jams on water

What exactly made this cleanup special? Tid(y)Up is unique on an international scale in a sense that project partners not only examine and evaluate the problem but they also get their hands dirty by facing polluted rivers in the project area. In addition, they learn to apply and adapt well-tested cleanup methodology developed by riverine waste management team of the Plastic Cup. According to this methodoly, the cleanup actions not only help to restore natural habitats but they also:

- add data to an international database of polluted river sections (pollution map);

- raise awareness on the issue;

- communicate results on a national & international level;

- by selective collecting and cooperating with regional waste management companies, they recycle, reuse more than 60% of the collected waste.

The fast response waste management boat PETII on location helping the intervention

A personal account from the field by Terézia Panková, communication assistant of Tid(y)Up:

"- Volunteers from various parts of eastern Slovakia but also from Hungary participated in the the Bodrog River cleanup and its surroundings on the Slovak and Hungarian side. Groups of volunteers collected waste from a canoe, as well as on foot from the mainland near the rivers. In addition to the couch, building materials, tires, a refrigerator, bicycle parts as well as the remains of dead animals were found in the river, which can be dangerous due to possible water contamination. In three days, with the help of more than 100 volunteers, we managed to collect more than 6 incredible tons of waste. Monday clean-up began in the village of Zemplín and continued through Ladmovce to Streda nad Bodrogom."

Tid(y)Up team onboard the fast response waste management boat PETII

"The next day, the waste was collected on the route from Streda nad Bodrogom to Borša, from where the participants reached the village of Alsóberecki in Hungary along the river. On the last day, this three-day enviro-marathon continued towards Sárospatak.The collected waste was sorted every day into PET bottles, metals, glass, polyethylene, municipal waste and caps from PET bottles. The largest piece of waste was a couch set, which the volunteers managed to catch out of the water. "

Selection of the collected waste on the location is a crucial part of the cleanup

The selection enables more than 60% of the collected riverine waste to get recycled

text and photos by Terézia Panková & Attila D. Molnár

video summary by PLASTIC Cup

#dtptidyup #interregtidyup