2023-09-01 12:37:00
“It’s all black. You can barely see a few centimeters away.” In his impressive diving suit, Jonathan Richir plunges into the dark waters of the Brussels canal. In search not of fish or treasures… but of scooters, fallen or deliberately thrown into the water.
“And the fishing was good,” smiles the Namur diver from Hydroscaph. At the height of the Ninove gate, three muddy machines came out of the water in one hour. But this scooter fishing is not easy. Almost blind, the diver must feel the dark waters meter by meter, and the canal is full of “brol” as we say in Brussels. “Dishes, pieces of bicycles, and lots of wood… enough to keep warm all winter long.” Once the two-wheeler is spotted, it is immediately strapped down and a team pulls it at arm’s length from the docks.
Scooters, safes, bicycles, trash… Up to 6 tonnes of objects found this Sunday in the ponds of Ixelles
Machines in poor condition
This is not the first time that such an operation has been organised. The operation of the day, carried out in Molenbeek and Anderlecht, was sponsored by the company Tier, active with nearly 4,000 machines in the capital. “This type of action should be repeated and shows that we take our environmental responsibilities”, explains the manager, François-Xavier Giraud.
Scooters in Brussels: the Region is tightening the screw and will limit the number of machines to 8,000 in 2024, against more than 20,000 currently
With their batteries and other electronic components, scooters indeed pollute the waters of the Brussels river, already heavily damaged by urban activities. “The batteries are sealed, but after a while this is no longer guaranteed. Seawater is worse for corrosion.”
However, the machines that come out of the water are not all those of the German company. “We still put them all in our repository, and other companies can pick them up.” In Anderlecht, Biestebroeck basin, a Bird scooter came out of the water. The operator having left the capital for a long time, we doubt that this e-step has remained in the troubled waters of the canal for almost a year…
This morning, only one Tier came out of the water. In poor condition. “We will see what we can recover. But it seems difficult. We will therefore recycle the different elements.”
All scooters limited to 20 km / h in Brussels: the Region tightens the screw for private vehicles
Less vandalism than before
According to Tier, scooters thrown into the canal are a declining phenomenon compared to the beginnings of micromobility. In particular the weight: the first scooters put into circulation at the end of the 2010s weighed around fifteen kilos. “Today, we are on 30, 35 kilos”, explains the Tier manager. Another element, the prohibition perimeters around water areas are increasingly precise, and in particular prevent parking in the immediate vicinity of the canal.
In January, as a reminder, of the nine operators present, only two will remain in the capital, with a fleet reduced to 8,000 machines against around 20,000 currently. A turn of the screw decided by the Vervoort government shortly after the Parisian ban, against a backdrop of fed up of the municipalities and a worrying increase in accidents.
Two, illegally, on a scooter: a declining phenomenon, but still very present in the Brussels Region
This numerical reduction will allow, according to the German box, to better manage the fleet and to organize more this type of action because the contacts will be closer with a reduced number of actors. The call for tenders has been launched and contains in particular an ecological dimension among the selection criteria. Since then, there has been a proliferation of actions and communications from operators in the sector, focusing mainly on the safety and environmental aspect of their activities.
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