On Friday, August 16, the day after the fireworks in La Grande-Motte, divers from the La Palanquée club will go out to sea to collect waste from the show. A responsible approach, encouraged by the City.
This Friday, August 16, all that will remain of the previous day’s fireworks display will be memories. And waste at sea. From 9 a.m., a team of courageous divers will go to the firing site to recover the debris of the rockets that sank to the bottom, following the fireworks on August 15.
“They are shooting the fires from a barge”
In La Grande-Motte, since 2017, divers have been scouring the seabed after the fireworks to bring up as much debris as possible. This year, there will be around ten volunteers. “They are shooting the fires from a barge, a few hundred meters from the shore”explains Christian Pierrot, president of the La Palanquée club. His team will have to cover “an area 200 meters long and 80 meters wide”all at a depth of five meters.
Small mesh bags. La Grande-Motte Tourist Office
Mandated by the City, volunteer divers will collect the waste in small mesh bags, attached to their wetsuits. “We won’t be able to recover everything, some of the waste goes out to sea and some of it washes up on the beaches”explains Sandrine Carou, a diver at the club and volunteer.
Less harmful and less waste
Two volunteers present their harvest. La Grande-Motte Tourist Office
Sandrine Carou highlights the efforts that pyrotechnicians are making to reduce their impact on the environment. “Before, we found large plastic sheets, they have been replaced by cardboard. And we have to bring up fewer wires,” explains the diver. The volume of waste brought up is also decreasing. “Following July 14 this year, we only collected two small garbage bagsrejoices Christian Pierrot. Before, it was much more”.
The waste is mainly composed of cardboard and a little aluminum. La Grande-Motte Tourist Office
Alexandre Queffelec, whose company Pandora Pyrotechnie is responsible for lighting the fire this Thursday, if the weather does not spoil the party, confirms what the divers say: “The ecological impact is almost zero”. Today, apart from a few sons,“There is only cardboard on the rockets”assures the entrepreneur.
What about Palavas and Carnon?
In Palavas-les-Flots, such an operation is not necessary, as the fireworks are fired from the beach. Thus, according to the Palavas tourist office, “The waste will simply be collected the next morning by the services that usually clean the beaches.”.
In Carnon, the majestic fire is fired “from the western breakwater of the outer harbor, towards the sea”we are told at the town hall of Mauguio-Carnon. The company Brezac Artifices, which will provide the show, will take care of the cleaning “with the help of the city’s technical services”.
