PLA backs Cleaner Thames campaign

The All Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group was told of the increasing danger to marine life and cost to people, with marine litter found on beaches doubling in the last five years.

The issue of litter in UK’s capital river took centre stage with the PLA noting that 300 tonnes of ‘driftwood’ is removed from the Thames every year, much of which is made up of plastic materials like single use plastic bottles.

PLA environment manager, Tanya Ferry, said: “We collect the equivalent weight of twenty-four thousand discarded water bottles. But it is just the tip of the iceberg, as we can only remove litter off the foreshore and floating into our driftwood collectors.”

“The sheer volume of rubbish is frightening and has an impact on the port and marine environment, which is home to birds, fish, seals and the UK’s busiest waterway, with tens of thousands of jobs dependent on it,” she added.

Findings in a Thames study by Royal Holloway University of London and the Natural History Museum underlines the concern. They found that 75% of the flatfish species, flounder, from sites in the tidal Thames have plastic in their bellies.

The PLA, Royal Holloway University of London, Natural History Museum and the Marine Conservation Society are backing the Cleaner Thames Campaign, which is calling on people to do the right thing and make sure their rubbish goes in the bin, not in the River Thames.