A petition with over 10,000 signatures calling for an end to the use of plastic beads in wastewater treatment has been handed in at 10 Downing Street. It follows last year’s pollution incident which saw millions of the pellets washed up at Camber and Rye Harbour Nature Reserve after being released from Southern Water’s Eastbourne works.
The petition was organised by Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore who described the release and its effect on local wildlife as “devastating” and “a catastrophe.”
Southern Water has admitted responsibility for the incident and committed to the clean-up.
Helena Dollimore said, “A few months ago, I had no idea that plastic beads were used in wastewater treatment. Then 300 million of them washed up on our coastline at Camber Sands and along the Sussex coast, causing an environmental catastrophe. We are saying to Southern Water and all the water companies that are using these plastic beads — think again. Better, more modern technology exists and you do not need to be using these plastic beads. This catastrophe has shown us the risk that it poses to our environment.”
She was joined in Downing Street by members of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, who run the nature reserve and support the ban. Henri Brocklebank, Director of Conservation, said, “There is only one way to guarantee that we never have a spill of bio-beads again. That is to stop our wastewater treatment works from using them. Bio-beads are small and buoyant, not dissimilar to many of the food items these birds are searching for. The impact of bioplastics accumulating in the digestive systems is well documented, but the effects of any contaminants that could be released in the acidic gut systems of these birds are far less understood. The removal of the bio-beads from the environment is paramount, but I fear that our grandchildren will still be finding them in years to come.”
Image Credits: Helena Dollimore .