Plaswood turns plastic river waste to park benches

UK-based, Berry Global subsidiary Plaswood has produced the country's first picnic bench made from plastic recovered from riverbeds. The benches are part of a £1.5-million (€1.78-million) partnership with West Cumbria Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency.

The River Keekle restoration project - the largest of its kind in the UK - involved the removal an environmentally damaging plastic liner from a 2.5 km (1.55 mile) stretch of river in Cumbria, in northwest England. The recently completed first phase of the project saw nine tonnes of plastic removed from a 170 metre trial site and the riverbed restored with stone.

The plastic is a source of corrosion and pollution and originally destined for landfill until Plaswood's involvement in the project. The material was collected from the site as a demonstration of how it could be recycled to create "second-life" products.

As commemoration of the partnership, Plaswood has donated a picnic bench made out of the plastic collected from the Keekle to the Rivers Trust, where it now stands on the riverbank by the place it was recovered.

Katherine Lorek-Wallace, General Manager at Plaswood, said: “We’ve helped to turn a potential environmental problem into a solution by creating second-life Plaswood benches that can be enjoyed by the public for years to come."

“Our work with the West Cumbria Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency is a great example of the circular economy,” she added. 

All the plastic removed from the River Keekle was sent to Plaswood’s recycling plant in Dumfries for shredding, cleaning and remanufacture into recycled plastic lumber, from which the company makes its end products. The process diverts waste from landfill and provides a valuable, sustainable and long-lasting alternative to hardwood, that itself can be recycled at the end of its use.

Luke Bryant, Project Manager for West Cumbria Rivers Trust, said: “We’re already seeing massive positive changes in the restored section. There’s natural gravel, cobbles and sediment deposition in places, which is proof that the river is re-naturalising itself now the plastic isn’t in the way.”

“We estimate that 100 to 150 tonnes of plastic will be removed this year, leaving the full 2.5 km stretch restored, with the potential to become great habitat for fish spawning,” Bryant continued.

The project is part of the Environment Agency’s River Restoration Programme in Cumbria – one of the biggest portfolios of river restoration projects in the UK.

Lorek-Wallace added: “Plastic is widely recyclable and it’s essential that we get this message across. The River Keekle project gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of plastic recycling - and this is one of the best ways to encourage even more recycling across the country.”

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