Time to tackle tsunami of
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners were yesterday calling on the Government and businesses to deal with the “tsunami of plastic waste” that is the scourge of Britain’s waterways.
Top brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Evian and Highland Spring are among the world’s most recognisable names, but their labels are in danger of becoming symbols of our shameful throwaway society.
A Daily Express investigation has laid bare the extent of pollution which is blighting people’s lives, with a devastating impact on marine life.
Birds, wildlife and seals are at risk as a direct result of thoughtless and, on occasion, criminal acts.
Our photographs reveal the extent of the horror with piles of plastic bottles, food wrappers, crisp packets and polystyrene takeaway containers littering the banks of the Thames. We found them scattering the foreshores of the 215-mile river alongside plastic syringes, toys, babies’ dummies and household items including TV sets and laptops.
At one spot, eight Christmas trees in varying sizes and states of decay lay among the debris. Low tide also reveals millions of wet wipes which have formed into filthy banks.
‘Rivers are one of the main ways plastic gets to the ocean’
Environmentalists have identified five sites which have been dubbed the Thames Great Wet Wipe Reef.
Plastic debris from single-use items is the most common type of rubbish on the river. Each year more than 300 tons of rubbish is dragged out.
And the clean-up operation is largely left to a growing army of volunteers.
Campaigners say the full extent of the crisis is not known because there is no monitoring of the impact of the plastic tide on our waterways.
They are calling on urgent action for a deposit return scheme that will encourage UK consumers to recycle an estimated 13 billion plastic drink bottles used each year.
There are more than 150 million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans. Every year a million birds and more than 100,000 sea mammals, die either from eating or getting tangled in waste.
Debbie Leach, of charity Thames21, which has 7,000 volunteers to clean up the river, said: “Rivers are one of the main ways land-based plastic gets to the ocean.
“Our volunteers are the last line of defence against a tsunami of plastic waste being carried out to sea.
“Not only does this plastic look awful, it harms wildlife which can ingest it or get tangled up in it. More dangerous still, it breaks down into microplastics which can enter the food chain.
“Clean-ups are not enough. We need to turn off the plastic tap. We need a deposit return scheme, where consumers get a cash incentive for recycling their plastic waste.
“Business and government need to make it easy for people, by installing water fountains, banning polystyrene takeaway containers and any unrecyclable plastic food packaging.
“Rivers like the Thames provide crucial nature oases for wildlife and people. If we act now, we can help save these valuable spaces for the future.”
Martin Garside, of the Port of London Authority, said: “It’s a constant battle. It’s down to all of us to reduce the amount of plastic we use and dispose of it appropriately.” While plastic bottle are all too visible, the baby wipe “fatbergs” are a hidden horror.
They may look natural from a distance because they combine with mud and twigs, but only become visible on closer inspection at low tide.
Calamitous
Volunteers cleared more than 5,000 on a short stretch of the foreshore near Hammersmith Bridge in west London in just a few hours.
Last year 115,000 wipes were removed from an area nearby. About 20 billion wet wipes are used annually in the UK and many contain resins to hold fibres together, preventing them from