Beach waste could be recycled in the UK
Marine waste washed up on the island’s beaches could be sent to the UK to be recycled more regularly after a link has been established with a Dorset-based company.
The first lot of waste, which included a large piece of netting discovered on Petit Port last week by local beachcomber Richard Lord, was shipped on the Condor Liberation to Poole on Friday.
From there, it was picked up by members of the Weymouth & Portland Marine Litter Project, a community interest company, which is transporting it to a recycling skip in Exeter run by marine plastic gathering and recycling company Odyssey Innovation.
Mr Lord, who has been a beach cleaning volunteer for 16 years, said that the netting on this occasion was so big and heavy that he had required assistance from his son Lawrence in order to remove it from the beach.
‘It was in three pieces that had been tied together with a long length of braided twine,’ he said.
‘Lawrence ran up the Petit Port steps with two rolls of it on his shoulders, and I carried a piece of it in a bin bag rather more slowly.’
He said that he had built up a large collection of marine waste at his home over the years, and had struggled to dispose of much of it in the past.
‘The team at Guernsey Waste don’t want things like rope and netting because they can jam their processing machines, so the only other alternative is to dispose of them at Mont Cuet which I don’t like to do because it just takes up space.’
After seeing a post on Instagram by Weymouth & Portland Marine Litter Project founder Dave Taylor setting out the company’s future plans, Mr Lord got in touch with him about the possibility of sending some of Guernsey’s marine waste to the company.
Additionally, Mr Lord contacted Steve Champion-Smith, executive director for freight at Condor about shipping his haul.
‘Big thanks have to go to Dave and Steve for their generosity as without them this would not be possible,’ he said.
He hoped to secure a space near the harbour so that waste planned for future shipments could be stored together.
‘We will have to see how this first run goes, but I’m thrilled it’s happening. Ships in the English Channel dump waste in frightening quantities and the situation in Guernsey has been getting worse, so this is the first sign of clear sky on the horizon.’
