London — Each year 300 tonnes of rubbish need to be cleared from the Thames and a large proportion of it is food and drink packaging, that comes from dry land. Much of the litter is being eaten by birds, fish and other species which is leading to the 70 per cent of Thames fish found to have plastic in their gut. ‚Poly-Mer‘, the world’s first recycled plastic boat, made from 99 per cent recycled plastic waste, is part of a new wave of Plastic Fishing trips taking place in and around London’s Docklands to fish plastic out of the river.
The boat, made from 99 per cent recycled plastic waste, was built by Richmond-based boat builder Mark Edwards MBE. He built ‘Poly-Mer’, supported by Sky Ocean Rescue, as a 12-seater punt. The traditional design is over a thousand years old, but the material is one of the most modern imaginable: recycled single-use plastic combined with wood, otherwise known as Plaswood. This is the first time it has been used for this purpose.
Hubbub and Canary Wharf College have linked up to launch Plastic Fishing and will make more boats like Poly-Mer from the collected plastic litter creating a recycled flotilla to help clean the local waterways.
If someone would like to take part in a Plastic Fishing trip, Poly-Mer is available for group hire. The funds raised from these trips will finance the production cost of the expansion of the fleet, as well as supporting trips for London schoolchildren. The conditions of a trip can be found under hubbub.org.uk. To book it, email plasticfishing@hubbub.org.uk or call 020 3701 7544.
Source: Hubbub UK
