Great effort on Sunday 4th February from a group of anglers on the Upper Colne removing litter from in the channel; the whole lot has gone to be recyled by ReAP UK and made into new products, nothing will end up in landfill.

The angling volunteers collected a vast amount of plastic waste: enough to fill two very full 1 tonne bags with plastic of one sort and another - including 75+ tennis sized balls (dog walkers - please be more careful) and all is now with ReAP UK for recycling. When processed it is likely to come back to the river bank in the form of owl or smaller bird boxes.

Tony Booker will start the recycling process by compacting all that and reducing the volume by at least 50%. All achievable due to Kromachem Ltd providing the space to operate and PDE Waste technologies donating the compacter - both companies are based in the Colne Catchment. Support from other Catchment partners such as Three Rivers District Council, Affinity Water and Thames Water has also played its part in them being able to establish a 'hub' in the Colne catchment area.

ReAP UK are a passionate charity dedicated to facilitating the recycling of plastics collected from aquatic ecosystems such as rivers, canals, lakes, and oceans. Their purpose is to actively reduce the amount of plastic waste in these delicate ecosystems and promote sustainable practices for a cleaner and healthier world. Learn more by visiting their website: ReAP UK