Ibiza and Formentera to join international action involving millions of people in more than 200 countries on Saturday 20 September
Ibiza, 15 September 2025 – The members of ‘Plastic Free: Zero Waste Alliance Ibiza and Formentera’ —made up of Amics de la Terra, Associació de Voluntaris d’Eivissa, Creatives for the Planet, Fundació Deixalles, GEN-GOB, Ibiza Limpia, IbizaPreservation, (Ma) Sustainable Transformation Laboratory, the Platform “There are solutions for the Ibiza landfill” and One Life One Planet— will participate once again in World Cleanup Day, which will be celebrated on Saturday 20th September.
World Cleanup Day was born in Estonia in 2008, when 50,000 people came together to clean up an entire country in a single day. That action grew into an international movement that today mobilises millions of volunteers in more than 200 countries and is now part of the UN’s International Calendar. Its goal remains as simple as it is ambitious: to unite at least 5% of the world’s population to take action against pollution and raise awareness of the waste problem.
Island cleanups and invitation to participate
The cleanups organised by the alliance members will take place at various locations in Ibiza on Friday 19th September and Saturday 20th September.
The first will be on Friday 19th, from 6 to 7 pm, starting from the Santa Gertrudis parking lot (on Venda de Cas Serres street), organised by (Ma), Sustainable Transformation Laboratory, in collaboration with Ibiza Lighthouse Church and the Anglican Church of Ibiza and Formentera.
On Saturday 20th, cleanup actions will continue at various points on the island. One is planned between 10 am and 1 pm in Cala Tarida, coordinated by the Ibiza Volunteers Association and the Sant Josep Town Hall.
In Santa Eulària, IbizaPreservation and the Rotary eClub Ibiza International will carry out another clean from 11am to 1 pm, starting from Platja des Riu (at the mouth of the river), with the support of Depeche Mode, Hublot and Conservation Collective.
These activities are also complemented by other cleanups organised by members of the alliance. Users of the Fundació Deixalles workshops will collect waste in the Es Cavallet area, while Ibiza Limpia will carry out another action in the Benimussa area.
In 2024, nearly 100 people participating in the various cleanups organised by the alliance, during which 489 kilos of rubbish were removed from natural spaces. Of this, 41% was non-recyclable waste, 16% was plastic, and 10% was glass.
This year, the alliance encourages associations, businesses, schools and the general public to get involved by organising their own cleanup activities. To do so, they simply need to register on the official World Cleanup Day website and report the collected waste using the app. Let’s Do It! By Planet Heroes . In this way, local cleanups will be added to the global tally of this international movement. Participants are also encouraged to share their actions on social media and tag the alliance at @plasticfree.alianzacero to highlight the collective effort on the islands.
A message from the alliance
The alliance emphasised that, as limited island territories, Ibiza and Formentera must prioritise waste prevention and reduction, especially waste that cannot be recycled. Currently, this waste ends up in landfills and will soon have to be transported to Mallorca for final treatment.
“Every time we organise a cleanup, we see that the majority of waste that appears on beaches and in natural environments is single-use items: from plastic caps and cans to wipes and cigarette butts, which we find everywhere,” said Sofía Ribas, coordinator of the Alliance. “Our goal is clear: to move toward zero-waste islands. To achieve this, all of us who live on the islands can contribute by minimising what ends up in the grey bin, properly separating our waste, and putting prevention at the heart of our decisions.”
With this shared vision, the alliance has initiated meetings with public institutions to collaboratively explore how to move toward the goal of Ibiza and Formentera becoming among the top ten islands certified as zero waste in the Mediterranean by 2030.
