Working with Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust (ESRT) on a ‘Preventing Plastic Pollution Project’.
Preventing Plastic Pollution seeks to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in the marine environment. Working with Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust, RGT volunteers have been out counting, recording categorising and weighing collected plastics along the river Gipping between Charmford Lock and Needham Market. Over 16kg of plastic waste was collected, with a follow up session a few weeks later that collected around 6kg of waste.
Volunteers out collecting plastic along the river. A large quantity was out of reach and was collected at a later date.
The Preventing Plastic Pollution initiative has co-developed a standardised approach for surveying litter in rivers and streams. Their aim is to pilot this methodology across 7 catchment areas in England and France, including the River Gipping. They have asked us, as a voluntary group, to help gather detailed information on the types and amounts of plastic waste in the river catchment. The data will be assessed and sources of plastic pollution identified by both location and sector. This will be invaluable in helping to plan and deliver effective interventions to prevent plastic pollution from entering our rivers and seas.
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