Pollution down on six Greek islands after second clean-up cycle, but 81% of beaches already clean

Pollution levels fell between 29% and 75% on six Cycladic islands after the second round of clean-up operations under the Typhoon Project, Euronews reported. The Athanasios C. Laskaridis Public Benefit Foundation carried out the work on Syros, Mykonos, Delos, Antiparos, Despotiko and Keros.

Teams visited 575 beaches in total. Of those, 468 required no action while clean-ups took place on the remaining 107. The project, now in its seventh year, has cleaned more than 4,800 stretches of coastline and removed over 1,090 tonnes of waste since it began.

Delos recorded the largest reduction at 75%. Keros followed with a 60% improvement, Despotiko with 50%, Syros with 33%, Antiparos with 31% and Mykonos with 29%. Euronews reported that the foundation described the results as evidence that repeated interventions produce measurable gains.

On Mykonos, 918 pupils cleaned three beaches over six days. On Syros, project staff collaborated with students from the Merchant Marine Academy. Specific island results included 744,048 items of waste collected on Mykonos and 90,038 items on Despotiko.

Euronews reported the foundation's conclusion that sustained field presence, scientific data recording and citizen participation can reduce coastal pollution.