The Port Authority of Vigo launched a new major initiative for the cleaning and maintenance of its docks. This project is the result of a public-private collaboration involving the Greek NGO Enaleia, the insurance company Allianz, which is responsible for financing the cleaning, and the Galician recycling firm Cholita.
The current campaign is a follow-up and maintenance action after a comprehensive cleaning carried out last year throughout the port, where nearly 300 tons of garbage were removed. The goal now is to search for and remove smaller and more detailed waste to achieve the total cleaning of the seabed.
According to the head of the port, Carlos Botana, “this follow-up and maintenance campaign is fundamental to our commitment to the oceans and the Blue Economy. The Port of Vigo is proving to be a world reference in good practices against pollution, and only with these public-private alliances will we manage to recover and maintain our marine ecosystems in a perfect and clean state.”
Cleaning operations and areas of action
The cleaning will be carried out over the next few days in various docks of the Port of Vigo, such as Portocultura, the R.C. Náutico, or the Fishing Port, thanks to the help of professional divers who will locate and collect the garbage manually. The areas will be inspected by grids to ensure the total removal of waste.
All collected materials will be carefully sorted and delivered to specialized partners for recycling or reuse, thus contributing to the development of the circular economy. Part of this waste will be transformed into functional products by the Cholita Corme project, demonstrating how innovation can give new life to discarded materials.
In previous initiatives, the marine plastic collected thanks to the cleanups by Enaleia and Allianz has been reused to manufacture benches and kayaks, turning marine trash into community resources and raising awareness about the importance of protecting our seas.
Although the initial cleaning removed nearly 300 tons of varied waste (including remnants of fenders and a sunken ship), waste more associated with port-city activity is now found, such as remains of bottles, cans, nets, iron, or plastics.
As highlighted by Botana himself, there is currently greater awareness among users, which has led to a notable improvement in the last 20 years. The collaboration with NGOs like Enaleia also extends to training fishermen to remove the trash they find in their nets, promoting greater awareness and participation of the maritime community in the fight for the oceans.
