Around 1.6 tons of waste were collected across two clean-ups hosted by the Malta Airport Foundation, the Foundation said in a statement.

The Malta Airport Foundation brought together 49 divers, 2 snorkellers and several other volunteers to rid part of the seabed in the south of Malta of marine waste.

Over five hours, a group of volunteers at Birżebbuġa brought to the surface around 700 kilos of waste mainly consisting of plastic jerry cans and bottles, discarded pieces of mooring rope and broken boat parts.

Another team at Wied iż-Żurrieq collected numerous glass and plastic bottles, as well as an array of bulky items, including 53 tyres, a metal ladder, bollards, concrete sinkers and large metal pipes, amounting to around 900 kilos.

This totals to a troublesome 1.6 tons in total of waste.

“It is worrying that many people still fail to understand that careless actions, such as the incorrect disposal of waste, lead to altered oceans, seas and underwater ecosystems. Initiatives such as clean-ups highlight the dire need for better education on why it is important to keep our seas healthy,” said Foundation Chairman Josef Formosa Gauci, whilst reminding that oceans support 80% of life on our planet.

The Foundation is committing itself to raising awareness about marine conservation and working towards improving the quality of the waters surrounding the islands for the benefit of locals and tourists visiting Malta. Beaches and diving, in fact, consistently rank among tourists’ top ten reasons for visiting the Maltese islands. 

Over the past six years, the Foundation has supported the production of two underwater documentaries, each one having a message of conservation, and procured two sea-bins for two localities in the vicinity of the airport: Marsaskala and Marsaxlokk.

It thanked the Calypso Subaqua Club and Atlam Subaqua Club for ensuring that these two clean-ups were a success, as well as other entities involved in the proper disposal of the items retrieved from the seabed.