Solved: Mystery of plastic piping washed up on beach
LARGE coils of plastic pipes have washed up on beaches across Wales.
Volunteers at a beach clean-up in Llantwit Major couldn’t believe it when they discovered the coils on Sunday morning.
“They were a nightmare to get off the beach, and they have been found on beaches across Wales and in Devon,” said Trevor McGarrie, who runs the volunteer beach cleaning group made up of 34 people.
“Llantwit had five coils and locals and volunteers helped to clear them from the beach. I’m always concerned about plastic in our oceans so I was shocked when we found these.
“They have been found on all beaches from Barry to Devon,” added the 39-yearold who lives in Bridgend.
Trevor, who runs the group which is sponsored by SAS International and Fonmon Castle, added that the piping has also been found at Rhoose, Barry, St Donats, Southerndown, Ogmore By Sea, Porthcawl, Westward Ho, Saunton, Croyde, Greencliff, Woolacombe and Putsborough.
It turns out that the piping, which was first sighted last Wednesday, was washed up after a container came off a cargo ship in ‘storm-force winds’.
The piping, which belongs to a company called Pipelife, was on a ship travelling from Ireland to Holland.
A spokesman for Pipelife said: “The plastic coils resulted from an accident at sea on in which a container sailing from Ireland to Holland was overboard in gale force winds during Storm Dennis. Pipelife has been working closely with the councils concerned to remove these coils. Any of this lost product washed ashore will be quickly and responsibly collected and recycled.”