Fishing line recycling bins installed on Eastbourne seafront

Fishing line recycle bins have been installed along Eastbourne seafront.
Oliver Sterno, Plastic Free Eastbourne, Jon Dow, Eastbourne Borough Council, Neil Peters, Eastbourne Borough Council, Dee Harmer, Fish 2 Water, Lani Farrell, Eastbourne Voluntary Lifeguards Youth Team, Simone Laughton, H.L. Motors. SUS-210103-160430001Oliver Sterno, Plastic Free Eastbourne, Jon Dow, Eastbourne Borough Council, Neil Peters, Eastbourne Borough Council, Dee Harmer, Fish 2 Water, Lani Farrell, Eastbourne Voluntary Lifeguards Youth Team, Simone Laughton, H.L. Motors. SUS-210103-160430001
Oliver Sterno, Plastic Free Eastbourne, Jon Dow, Eastbourne Borough Council, Neil Peters, Eastbourne Borough Council, Dee Harmer, Fish 2 Water, Lani Farrell, Eastbourne Voluntary Lifeguards Youth Team, Simone Laughton, H.L. Motors. SUS-210103-160430001

The recycling scheme is the brainchild of open water swimmer Dee Harmer who said she wanted to help clean up Eastbourne’s beaches.

Dee, an underwater photographer, swim teacher and surf lifesaving coach, regularly swims in the sea and said she often finds angling debris, both in the water and on the beach.

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A pipe bin scheme came to her attention through social media and she contacted the volunteer group, Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme and Eastbourne Borough Council, which have both been fully supportive, to put the scheme into action.

Dee Harmer SUS-210103-155234001Dee Harmer SUS-210103-155234001
Dee Harmer SUS-210103-155234001

Her campaign is supported by the local environmental group Plastic Free Eastbourne and a network of discreetly designed bins have been installed along suitable points of the seafront to deposit discarded fishing line and nets.

The angling debris will be collected by Dee’s company, Fish 2 Water and Eastbourne Voluntary Lifeguards and sent for recycling.

After sponsoring the first bin through her own company Fish 2 Water, Dee found sponsors from other local companies keen to help the scheme.

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Thanks to support from Ben Hartland, East Bay Campers Sussex, Simone Laughton from H.L. Motors, and one other group, four bins have now been installed at Holywell, the Wish Tower, Splash Point and the Waterworks Treatment Plant.

Dee said she now hopes to find more sponsors to expand the scheme further.

Steve Tapp, a campaigner from Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme, which installed the bins, said, “We are extremely pleased to be expanding our recycling scheme into Eastbourne.

“Rather than end up in landfill, the material that is collected will be sent off to our UK recycler, ReWorked.

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“Here, it will be processed and combined with other ‘hard to recycle’ plastics to create a plastic board, used to manufacture various products such as recycling stations, rod stands and waste bins. Future projects include developing angling related products such as polarised fishing glasses frames from the recycled fishing nets and line.”

Dee said the project’s aim is to raise awareness of marine debris and its effect on wildlife as sea birds and marine life are often trapped or killed as a result of fishing line and ghost netting.

Eastbourne joins Brighton, Seaford and Newhaven which already have pipe bins installed. The pipe bin project will now also be part of a survey of marine litter on Sussex beaches with Sussex Wildlife Trust.

Oliver Sterno from Plastic Free Eastbourne said, “We are absolutely delighted with the outcome.

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“We have teams of volunteers who adopt a particular section of beach to care for its wellbeing, cleaning it and monitoring the debris collected. Our initiative is based along the whole of Eastbourne beachfront which is about 9 km long and divided into 93 separate beaches.

“The amount of discarded line that is continuously washed up on our beaches is staggering as it poses a threat to wildlife and looks unsightly.

“The pipe bins will play an important role in our weekly cleaning process. This is another step towards helping our environment.”