Polystyrene from tower litters streets and canals
TRAILS of polystyrene littering Birmingham streets and canals have been traced back to a city centre tower block.
It is understood the chunks have blown from the top of the 16-storey Brindley House building in the Jewellery Quarter, where a £6 million project is under way.
One neighbour described seeing ducks eating the non-biodegradable material as it floated down the canal several streets away.
Jo Burnham first noticed the polystyrene last month and set about tracking down the source.
Ms Burnham, 32, raised concerns over the potentially hazardous impact on local wildlife.
She said: “I first noticed it about three-and-a-half weeks ago.
“Even several streets away, you can see smaller pieces where it’s been blown up against the walls of buildings. Anyone who has walked through the area recently would have noticed it.
“I started finding more and more of
it on my walk to work and then I started noticing it in the canal. I live right next to the canal so I can see loads of the stuff flowing past where I live.
“There is loads of it, it’s everywhere. And it doesn’t degrade so this stuff is going to be here forever until someone cleans it up.
“I would say it’s catastrophic because of how much of this stuff there is blowing around.
“I didn’t know where it was coming from at first but then I came across the site and walked up the steps and saw it was absolutely everywhere. It looked like it was falling from the
scaffolding there. It does concern me because it could be a health hazard to animals – I’ve seen ducks eating it.
“It’s depressing because you want Birmingham to be a tidy place to live but seeing this pollution everywhere is just upsetting.”
A spokesman for Centrick, which manages the Brindley House apartment block, said: “Brindley House is currently undergoing a £6 million facade remediation project, part of which includes the removal of polystyrene.
“The removal of the polystyrene is very difficult to manage as there are strong winds, especially towards the top of the 16-storey building. The contractors are cleaning the streets on a daily basis and are attempting to keep debris to an absolute minimum.
“However, it is not possible to collect all of the debris as it comes away in very small sections.
“The contractors have, however, now changed the sheeting on the scaffold to debris netting in order to limit the debris being blown from site. We also have confirmation that all the polystyrene will be removed by March 31. Officers from Birmingham City Council have visited the site and are happy with the process in place to clear any debris.”