“Whoever you are, you are welcome to contribute to the clean-up… The situation on the riverbanks is just the tip of the iceberg. Apart from the climate crisis, we are also facing the threat of mass waste,” French Ambassador, Anne-Marie Maskay, noted during a press conference regarding the presentation of the waste collected during the “CleanUp Montenegro network” campaign.

The Ambassador highlighted the value of waste cleaning actions as they unite all the residents of Montenegro.“International cooperation is crucial. We plan to announce an agenda that will hopefully become legally binding and will influence the reduction of waste worldwide,” Maskay added, stating that joint action is the only way to eliminate waste and improve life in Montenegro.

The Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Janina Hrebičkova, said that the cleaning campaign is of great socio-political and social importance. “We must increase the amount of waste we recycle. Our goal is to share examples of good and bad practices and support each other,” said Hrebičkova.

Vanja Cicmil, Programme Manager of the NGO Zero Waste Montenegro, explained that International Coastal Cleanup Day is organised to draw attention to the pollution of river streams and seas. “This year, with the help of 325 volunteers, we collected two and a half tons of waste,” Cicmil explained, and pointed out that more than 50% of the analysed waste in 2022 consisted of plastic bottles. She also stated that one of the goals of the NGO Zero Waste Montenegro is to redesign packaging to make it reusable because, as Cicmil notes, there are no recycling facilities that can eliminate the vast amount of single-use packaging.”