APEM have scooped up an International Green Apple Environment Award for Environmental Best Practice, for their Irwell Pride litter boat programme. On their purpose-built boat, the APEM team and local volunteers have so far removed over 40,000 litres of rubbish from the Manchester Ship Canal and River Irwell.
APEM Field Scientist on the Irwell Pride litter collection boat
There is a substantial amount of floating plastic litter that is only accessible by boat, which gathers in ‘hotspots’ along the riverbank.
This debris would eventually degrade into microplastics that are difficult to remove and can have devastating effects on fish and other wildlife when they eventually reach the sea. By working to solve one problem locally, we can help mitigate further damage to our planet through plastic pollution.
The specially designed Irwell Pride captures floating litter below deck, while the team on board collects rubbish via nets and litter pickers, sorting it into recyclable and non-recyclable waste. Each trip removes approximately 1,000 litres of litter and harmful plastics, including plastic bottles, crisp packets and wrappers, making the area a more pleasant environment for people and wildlife. The APEM team have even found a message in a bottle, an old guitar and even an inflatable sheep!
The Irwell Pride project welcomes volunteers onto the boat as part of Environment Days funded by local businesses. Trafford-based Cargill have funded five litter boat trips in 2022, with another five pencilled in for 2023 as part of their Cargill Cares initiative. Russ Comrie, the Chairman of Cargill Cares, holds the record for the largest item recovered from the water (a fridge!).
Green Apple Award Winner 2022
We’re really pleased to see local companies getting involved with the community and having a positive effect on the environment. If you are interested in having a teambuilding day on our award-winning boat, contact Joshua Owen.
APEM competed against more than 500 other nominations in the International Green Apple Awards, in a campaign to find the greenest companies. The Green Apple Awards are run by The Green Organisation – an international, independent, non-profit, non-political environment group that began in 1994 to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.
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