Balearic coastline cleaning service removes nearly 8 tons of waste in May

Ibiza leads waste collection this month, with over 3,300 kilos removed by cleaning vessels.

The coastline cleaning service, coordinated by the public company PortsIB, under the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle, collected a total of 7,835.30 kilos of waste from the coasts of the Balearic Islands during May 2025. This figure represents a daily average of 252.75 kilos and reflects the constant work of the 23 vessels participating in this year’s campaign, which includes 15 beach vessels and 8 coastal vessels spread across the four islands.

By island, Ibiza concentrated the most waste, with a total of 3,375.35 kilos collected, followed by Mallorca with 2,559.35 kilos, Menorca with 1,524.05 kilos, and Formentera with 376.55 kilos. The beach vessels, designed to operate in shallow areas, and the coastal vessels, capable of moving up to five miles offshore, worked all 31 days of the month across all islands.

Regarding the materials collected, wood accounted for 48.49% of the total, followed by plastic (37.69%) and other various waste (7.17%). Organic debris and vegetation were also removed.

In addition to regular collection, special operations were carried out to remove bulky waste or respond to incidents. In Mallorca, a dead turtle, a log, and several jellyfish were recovered in open water. In Menorca, large pieces of wood such as a small tree and a wooden block were removed. In Ibiza, assistance was provided during an intervention involving a vessel that had caught fire, helping to rescue its skipper and removing several logs from the sea. In Formentera, various sticks and a piece of floating dock were collected.

During the month, three alerts were attended to, all managed in collaboration with Maritime Rescue and the 112 emergency service. The coastline cleaning campaign will continue until September 30th.