"The key is to act now to stop the flow of plastics into our seas. Liverpool is also in a great position as an iconic port city to make a real difference by being a trailblazer..."
Jackie Caddick
A pioneering environmental firm in Liverpool has called for urgent action against the huge wave of plastic pollution currently being found in local waterways across the UK and internationally across the globe.
Water Witch who have been campaigning since 1965 after developing boats to clean up plastics and debris from worldwide waterways maintains that even if people live more than 100 miles from the sea, plastics are transported downstream through streams and rivers to the oceans.
Director Jackie Caddick said: “Eighty million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans every year according to National Geographic. We’ve got to turn the tide on this toxic debris by campaigning harder to stop the flow of plastics into our oceans. It starts with the clean-up of our waterways that feed the seas and oceans. We really need politicians, stakeholders, communities and the general public to drive the message home that soon, our seas will hold more plastic than fish!”
Jackie’s comments follow the BBC’s Drowning in Plastic documentary recently which showed the true extent of the problem and the devastating impact on marine life.
“It was distressing viewing, but we can turn back this growing plastic tide by cleaning the waterways and rivers that feed our seas. It is hard at times not to feel hopelessness about the gigantic volume of plastic pollution out there. However, it is relatively easy to remove plastics from waterways and prevent them from ever reaching our seas.
“That’s why Water Witch built and successfully developed trash collection boats in the first place…to efficiently retrieve all types of plastics.”
There is still no proven technology at the current time to remove plastics from our oceans and as Jackie points out, “the clean-up needs to start at the source where we can deal with the problem.
“The key is to act now to stop the flow of plastics into our seas. Liverpool is also in a great position as an iconic port city to make a real difference by being a trailblazer in the fight against Drowning in Plastic.”
