In April, we took to the River Tamar with Duchy College students to clean a five mile stretch between Calstock and Morwellham Quay of plastic rubbish.

Organised by students on the Level 3 Diploma in Sport and Physical Activity (Outdoor), we supported them as part of the 18-partner, cross-border, EU-funded project, Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP). This aims to change behaviour in relation to plastic use and disposal and determine ways to prevent it entering river systems and the ocean.

Andy Rogers, our PPP Project Manager said: “We are delighted the college and students have such a positive approach to dealing with the problem of plastic pollution in our local rivers and surrounding seas.

“The group organised and executed an excellent day’s clean-up, removing a good number of large plastic objects such as cones and shopping baskets as well as smaller items of single-use plastic such as drinks bottles and cups.

“It is great to know that there are such passionate advocates for the environment who understand the issues and are willing to take real action.”

Reflecting on their river clean up, the students Joe, Harry, Emily, Harry, Noah, Adeon and Lillie said they had all “really enjoyed the project as we were doing something great for the environment and having fun at the same time”.

Thy added that it felt “amazing” to know they were helping to preserve the natural habitat and that the work had inspired them to take it into their everyday lives.

Lecturer in Sport, Outdoor & Military Protective Service Russ Craig reiterated how keen the students are to act as advocates for their natural surroundings.

“Having the students organise their own river clean project with the Westcountry River Trust has helped them to understand further the challenges faced by the outdoor industry in leading activities in the natural environment, the consequences of our impact on these fragile sites, and how we can sustainably conserve through education these spaces for future generations to enjoy.”

In the Tamar catchment, we are working alongside Plymouth City Council, the University of Plymouth and the Environment Agency to deliver the PPP project. Our work includes the participation of individuals, communities and businesses to reduce or stop plastics entering the River Tamar from source to sea.

Globally, about 80% of plastic pollution comes from land sources and approximately four million tonnes of plastic waste enters the sea via rivers every year, yet little is known about the extent of this pollution and the understanding of its origin.

Andy added: “Through PPP, we can determine how and where plastic in the Tamar catchment originates and accumulates, informing where we can make the best improvements, and clean-ups like this make a vital contribution.”

PPP is a three-year, €14m EU INTERREG VA France (Channel) England Programme funded project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund that works across seven pilot areas.

The information gathered from research in these pilot areas will allow the cross-Channel partnerships to tackle plastic waste that enters the sea via rivers every year.

Visit wrt.org.uk/project/preventing-plastic-pollution-ppp/, email [email protected] or call 01579 372140 to find out more.

PPP Project objectives:

PPP will improve the quality of Transitional Waters across the France (Channel) England area (SO 3.2) by;

  • Developing a scalable and transferable mapping tool to provide quantifiable evidence of sources and quantities of plastic pollution in catchments.
  • Developing an effective portfolio of innovative interventions to reduce plastic waste in or entering catchments.
  • Transforming the behaviour of target groups and demonstrating best practice.

Expected project results:

PPP will improve water quality with:

  • a) A 10 % improvement in good ecological status (WFD Descriptor 10) in transitional waters.
  • b) A reduction in the harm caused by plastic pollution in rivers and the sea equivalent to €38.8M-€126M (150 km river/coast cleared; 200 t plastic removed).
  • c) A plastic-free charter implemented by 650 businesses & 50 supply chains modified.
  • d) Projected uptake to include+10 more catchments 2 yrs post project, and 100 catchments after 5 years.

Partners involved are: 

  • Queen Mary University of London
  • LABOCEA Conseil, Expertise et Analyses
  • Syndicat mixte établissement public de gestion et d’aménagement de la baie de Douarnenez
  • Office Français De La Biodiversité, Parc naturel marin d’Iroise
  • Brest Métropole
  • Centre national de la recherche scientifique
  • Counseil départemental de la Manche
  • Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer
  • Environment Agency
  • The Rivers Trust
  • Syndicat de bassin de l’Elorn
  • ACTIMAR
  • Brest’aim
  • Westcountry Rivers Trust
  • South East Rivers Trust
  • Plymouth City Council
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • University of Plymouth