Port volunteers join the fight against plastic

  • Posted by David Sexton
  • |
  • 4 December, 2019

A COMMITTED 48 volunteers recently boarded kayaks, dragon boats and paddle boards to help remove rubbish for the 'Moonee Ponds Creek Paddle against Plastic'.

This was the last of three Paddle against Plastic events this year. The events are run by environmental group Ocean Crusaders and are backed by the Port of Melbourne.

The volunteers managed to collect 484kg of rubbish, filling a 12 metre skip bin.

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Port of Melbourne also sponsored Ocean Crusaders to complete two days of cleaning on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 November which removed a further 1468kg of rubbish from port-related areas.

Moving sacks of plastic waste. Credit: Port of Melbourne

That means an impressive total of 1952kg rubbish was removed over the three days last week, and over 3.5 tonnes of rubbish was removed over the three events this year.

Celebrating a job well done. Credit: Port of Melbourne

All rubbish collected was sorted and entered into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative Database before being disposed of. The dates for 2020 Paddle Against Plastic events are to be released soon.

 

Posted by David Sexton

David Sexton is DCN’s senior journalist and has an extensive career across online and print media. A former DCN editor, he returns to covering shipping and logistics after a four-year hiatus working at Monash University during which time he managed production of key reports into the Indonesian ports and rail sectors.

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