Belgian butter cups found in Herten!

We have had to deal with extreme rain showers and when exploring the riverbanks to see if they are safe for clearing actions, we found an extremely large number of butter cups in Herten (Dutch Limburg). Yes, butter tubs! Those cups that you normally see when greasing your sandwich. We thought this was very special and went to investigate. Read this news item and find out more about these cups. This news item consists of the following subheadings:

Exploring the Riverbanks of Herten

After extremely high water, site managers such as Rijkswaterstaat, Waterschap Limburg, Limburg Landschap, Natuurmonumenten and Staatsbosbeheer always first check the affected areas to explore how badly the area has been affected. In addition, they also check whether the areas are safe to enter for people from the area and visitors. This also happened in Herten. On the Meuse banks of Herten, many butter cups were encountered near this place, as on other banks of the Meuse. We thought this was special and took a large part with us. Why? To see if we could figure out what the reason was. Because of the amount found, we felt that further research into the source of these cups was in order.

Butter cups from various brands

Many butter cups have been found on the banks of the Meuse in the Dutch Limburg municipality of Herten. The big question now is: “How come?”. When comparing the various butter cups, it turned out that they all had the same product codes. We found out via the internet that the butter cups come from a dairy factory in the part of the Ardennes, which was heavily affected by the floods, on the Vesdre, a tributary of the Meuse.

We found butter cups from different brands, such as:

• Elleetvire
• Asturiana
• Balade
• Matinal
• Calsbourg
• Quillayes
• Euro
• Landfein

And many more.

The butter cups have come a long way!

The butter cups have traveled a route through the hard flowing water of at least 90 kilometers to the banks in Herten. If you drive from Herten to the dairy in normal conditions, it will take you over 1 hour! Several reports have already appeared on social media that these butter tubs have been found further downstream as far as Lith (North Brabant).

Modeling of plastic behavior in rivers

Wageningen University is now going to map the distribution from source to wash-up locations in collaboration with Schone Rivieren researchers in order to better understand the dynamics of plastic in rivers. As soon as more is known about this research, we will also announce this on our website and social media channels.

Litter knows no boundaries!

By looking at the origin of these butter cups, it becomes clear that litter doesn’t knows any boundaries. That is why initiatives such as Litter free rivers and streams (LIVES) are important. By working together with various organizations, we can map out where the litter comes from, ends up and devise a strategy to prevent this.

Did you know that we have found even more striking items?

In addition to butter cups, we have found even more striking items. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels and stay informed!