Cleaning up the Thames

Thames21, Tideway and the authority cleared nearly two tonnes of rubbish and litter that had ended up in the river.

James Trimmer, director of planning and environment, Port of London Authority said: “As part of the Thames Vision, the PLA and partners have committed to making the river the cleanest it’s been since the Industrial Revolution and today plays a small part in that.”

He added: “It’s a challenging goal, but there is a lot going on to make this happen across the board.”

“You have the Thames Tideway Tunnel set to stop raw sewage entering the river, Thames21 working to clean it up, and we’re looking at improvements to air quality, including the introduction of a discount scheme to encourage use of vessels that meet high emission standards.”

With 300 tonnes of rubbish removed from the Thames every year, the Cleaner Thames campaign is looking to stop litter from entering the river in the first place. It calls on people to put their litter in the bin and look after the river.

Launched 12 months ago, the Cleaner Thames campaign highlights the impact of litter on marine life, with a study by Royal Holloway University of London and the Natural History Museum. It showed that in a sample on the Thames, up to 75% of the bottom feeding fish, flounder, had plastics in their stomaches.

Chris Coode, deputy chief executive and senior programmes manager for waterways charity, Thames21, concluded: “Today we worked with volunteers to remove litter which has an impact on marine life and is unpleasant for residents and river users.”

“This litter will build up again unless we tackle the source of the problem, so we want people to dispose of their litter properly.”