A depot has opened on the North Island to handle the increasing amounts of debris washing up on shorelines and floating in the ocean.
The 7-Mile Landfill on Highway 19 between Port McNeill and the Port Alice Junction is the fourth collection depot for the Ocean Legacy Foundation, which also has facilities in Cumberland, Ucluelet and Powell River.
The North Island depot in the Mount Waddington Regional District accepts abandoned fishing gear and marine debris such as netting and rope, polystyrene foam, hard plastics and select buoys.
Material collected at the depot is sent to the Ocean Legacy processing centre at Steveston Harbour, where it is further sorted, cleaned and recycled.
The program is funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
“We are really excited about our partnership with Ocean Legacy and the creation of the depot at 7-Mile Landfill,” Andrew Hory, chair of the Regional District of Mount Waddington, said in a statement.
“This program enables the district to build on our collection and recycling efforts by adding ocean plastics to the list. Removing plastic wastes from our oceans and shorelines, then collecting them locally, directly benefits the environmental health of our community.”
