Seabin in Gloucester Docks clears litter from the water

A floating rubbish bin called a seabin has been installed in a canal to help maintain water cleanliness.

The project aims to improve the water in Gloucester Docks and a team of volunteers from Young Gloucestershire is helping to run it.

The Gloucester Seabin operates 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, collecting rubbish from the water.

Tony Aldridge, who lives on a boat in the docks close to the device said it had made a "huge difference" already.

The bin has been operating for a month and works by drawing in rubbish floating in the canal.

When it fills up, it is drawn out of the water and emptied by hand.

So far it has collected about 80kg (17lbs) of plastic and has saved the Canals and River Trust an estimated £700 in manually removing litter that has blown into the docks, the charity said.

Amy, a volunteer from Young Gloucestershire, helps to empty the bin.

She said: "Mainly we tend to find a lot of soft plastics.

"We are lucky to have our own garden in the office at Young Gloucestershire so we put that into our compost.

"We're trying to keep that circle of sustainability going so we're not just throwing it all back into a bin."

Laura Mulholland, an ecologist with the Canal and River Trust, said litter in the Gloucester Docks had been causing "a bit of a problem".

She said "the longer the litter stays in the water, the more likely it is that it's going to break down into micro plastics", which can be harmful to marine life and humans.

Resident Tony Aldridge said it had already made an impact and "the ducks and swans have come back", which makes the docks a "beautiful environment".

There are hopes more seabins can be installed if this trial succeeds.

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