In the wake of Project Kaisei’s (www.projectkaisei.org) expedition to assess the extent of plastics floating in the North Pacific Gyre – see Plasteurope.com of 25.08.2009 – the British Plastics Federation (BPF, London / UK; www.bpf.co.uk) has issued a call for increased efforts to prevent plastics litter from reaching the marine environment. Commenting on the phenomenon, Peter David, the federation’s director general, said: “The plastics industry does not put plastic into the seas. This is caused by littering, illegal dumping, poor waste management.” David also expressed BPF’s support for the Marine Conservation Society’s (Ross-on-Wye / UK; www.marinereservesnow.org.uk) call to establish a Marine Management Organisation, as foreseen in the UK Marine & Coastal Access Bill that is currently passing through parliament.

BPF recently published a manual on the prevention, containment and clean-up of plastic materials. The booklet, entitled “Operation Clean Sweep – Plastic Pellet Loss Prevention”, aims to help the plastic industry reduce the loss of pellets to the environment. It includes guidelines for identifying and fixing sites where pellet spills could occur, a discussion on possible improvements to on-site infrastructure and facilities, suggestions for training employees as well as various pellet transport and packaging options.

e-Service:
BPF manual “Operation Clean Sweep – Plastic Pellet Loss Prevention” as a PDF document (979 KB)