On Wednesday, July 31, a coordinated environmental operation removed 960 kilograms of waste and marine debris from St Paul’s Bay and St Paul’s Island. The initiative was organized by iGEN with logistical support from local authorities and community groups.
Operational Logistics and Volunteer Coordination
Twenty volunteers participated in the event, including four divers from Raniero’s Adventures and No To Plastic Malta. The team established a base camp near the pumping station on Triq San Geraldu before boarding a chartered traditional luzzu at 14:00. The St Pauls Bay local council provided the necessary permits and a waste skip for the collected materials, while CleanMalta supplied collection sacks for the onshore sorting process. Volunteers from Kindred and three interns from The Merill Company joined the onshore groups to clear vegetation around the island and the Sirens Quay area.The cleanup focused on retrieving abandoned fishing nets, traps, and submerged debris from the seabed, while separate teams sorted waste across the island’s rocky terrain. Divers recovered car batteries, tires, plastic and glass bottles, paint containers, shotgun cartridges, and discarded clothing. A section of heavy-duty plastic pipe, previously part of an abandoned fish farm, was also retrieved.
Temperatures remained above 30 degrees Celsius with minimal wind, limiting shade to the area surrounding the St Paul statue on the island’s highest point.