This May, take action by joining the fourth annual Nettoyons le Sud and do your part for the environment.
On Saturday, May 30, 2026, thousands of volunteers across southern France will once again take to beaches, forests, riversides, villages, and mountain trails for the fourth annual Nettoyons le Sud – a regional environmental mobilisation aimed at tackling one of the Mediterranean’s most pressing challenges: waste pollution.
The initiative, led by Région Sud alongside municipalities, associations, businesses, schools, and local residents, has rapidly grown into one of the region’s largest citizen-led environmental actions. More than a simple cleanup campaign, Nettoyons le Sud reflects a broader shift in public awareness about consumption, plastic pollution, and the urgent need to protect fragile ecosystems.
Video via Région Sud – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur on YouTube
A Region Under Pressure
Each year, nearly 3.6 million tonnes of household waste are generated across the region. While a significant proportion is recycled or recovered, large quantities still escape waste systems altogether, ending up abandoned along roadsides, in forests, in rivers, and ultimately in the Mediterranean Sea.
Plastic remains one of the greatest concerns. Around 150,000 tonnes are produced annually in the region alone. Because plastic degrades extremely slowly, it fragments into microscopic particles that infiltrate soils, waterways, marine ecosystems, and eventually the human food chain.
The environmental consequences are far-reaching. Beyond the visible pollution, discarded waste threatens biodiversity, damages marine habitats, and weakens the natural landscapes that define the identity and economy of southern France. From coastal tourism to agriculture and fisheries, the long-term impact of pollution is becoming impossible to ignore.
Courtesy Région Sud – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
From Waste to Resource
Faced with mounting environmental pressure, Région Sud has adopted an increasingly ambitious strategy focused not only on cleanup operations, but on transforming the region’s relationship with waste itself.
Through its Regional Waste Prevention and Management Plan, the region is working with local authorities and environmental organisations to improve recycling systems, expand reuse and deposit schemes, support bulk purchasing initiatives, and reduce waste production at source.
The long-term objective is clear: eliminate plastic waste sent to landfill by 2030.
To reach that target, Région Sud has invested in local innovation projects and supported hundreds of community initiatives designed to rethink consumption and waste management. Authorities say plastic collection rates have already tripled in recent years thanks to stronger collaboration between municipalities, businesses, environmental groups, and citizens.
Yet officials emphasise that infrastructure alone will not solve the crisis. Behavioural change remains central to the effort – from reducing single-use plastics to improving sorting habits and consuming more responsibly.
Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash; licenced under the Unsplash License
A Collective Environmental Effort
Since its launch, Nettoyons le Sud has grown dramatically in scale. Volunteer participation has risen from 10,000 people in 2023 to more than 25,000 in 2025, with over 400 collection points organised throughout the region last year.
The 2025 edition alone resulted in the collection of more than 100 tonnes of waste. Since 2019, cleanup operations supported by Région Sud have removed a total of 354 tonnes of litter from natural environments.
The campaign’s rapid growth reflects increasing public concern about environmental degradation in the Mediterranean basin – one of the world’s most vulnerable ecological regions.
Organisers hope the 2026 edition will further strengthen public engagement while encouraging long-term environmental responsibility beyond a single day of action.
How You Can Participate
Courtesy Région Sud – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Participation in Nettoyons le Sud is open to everyone: residents, families, schools, sports clubs, businesses, and community organisations.
Local collection points are coordinated by municipalities and partner organisations, while volunteers can register online through an interactive map and choose a nearby cleanup location. Gloves, bags, and collection kits are provided on site.
The message behind the initiative is intentionally simple: protecting the environment begins with individual action, but real impact comes through collective effort.
As awareness of plastic pollution and environmental decline continues to grow across Europe, Nettoyons le Sud stands as a reminder that regional environmental change often begins at community level – one shoreline, one forest path, and one volunteer at a time.
PHOTO CREDITS
- Lead image by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash; licenced under the Unsplash License
- All other images and video as credited
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