In Lyon, volunteer divers have removed 84 tons of waste from the Saône and Rhône rivers in five years.
In Lyon, in the Rhône department, volunteers from the Diving for Future association dive into the Saône River to remove waste and send it for recycling. In a report published on Monday, September 28, 2026, franceinfo indicated that the association had recovered 84 tons of waste in five years. The exact date of the filmed operation was not specified.
A collection under the Bonaparte Bridge
The report places the operation under the Bonaparte Bridge in Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Around fifteen people are involved: divers locate and secure the submerged objects, while volunteers remaining on the quays haul them to the surface.
Among the items pulled from the water were safety barriers, a shopping cart, and a household robot. The waste was then loaded onto an electric barge, whose captain, described as a volunteer, helped with its removal. According to Julien Cottart, president of the association, the day’s collection exceeded three tons. This figure pertains to the filmed operation; the report does not specify the exact date.
A result that can be attributed to its sources
The figure of 84 tons collected over five years was reported by franceinfo. The website of Diving for Future, which confirms that the association is based in Lyon and works to protect aquatic environments, reports that more than 67 tons have been removed from the region’s rivers. The pages consulted do not allow for a reconciliation of these two figures or independent verification of the total of 84 tons. ( divingforfuture.fr )
The principle behind this initiative is to remove accessible items, then sort them and send them to appropriate processing or recycling facilities. The Lyon Aquarium also describes volunteer collections organized with the agreement of the authorities and the use of qualified companies for waste processing. ( aquariumlyon.fr )
What this changes locally
These operations make visible waste that is not visible from the quays and prevent certain items from remaining submerged. However, they do not, on their own, provide a complete picture of the The report also does not specify the final destination of each category of waste or the details of the cumulative total announced.
Diving for Future states that it organizes its activities with divers and volunteers. The report does not provide a schedule of upcoming operations or specific details on how to participate.
Source: franceinfo- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Original article: See the original source
