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3w ago

Port of London Authority Launches Mechanical Excavation of 180-Tonne Wet Wipe Mass

An eight-tonne excavator is operating from St Paul’s School grounds in a month-long attempt to remove the consolidated wipes that have reshaped the river’s flow.

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Chris Coode is the chief executive of Thames21, an environmental charity which has organised several volunteer-led clean-ups of “wet wipe island”

Overview

  • The excavated material is being loaded into skips and sent for responsible disposal at licensed facilities.
  • Thames21 volunteers have monitored the site since 2017 and collected over 140,000 wipes, data that underpinned the decision to mount a large-scale removal operation.
  • Thames Water reports that nonbiodegradable wipes are a leading cause of sewer blockages and extracts about 3.8 billion wipes from its network each year.
  • The metre-high, two-tennis-court-sized mass has altered the course of a 250-metre stretch near Hammersmith Bridge and threatened local aquatic wildlife.
  • Government draft legislation to ban plastic-containing wipes is advancing alongside new wastewater infrastructure investments aimed at preventing future buildups.