Journal Staff
A local manufacturer of polyethylene plastic is contributing to a new initiative to clean up plastic trash from the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC) has received $200,000 from Nova Chemical, one of Canada’s largest petrochemical companies.
“Ensuring the long-term environmental health of this public waterway is important to us all,” says Luis Sierra, president and CEO, Nova Chemicals.
According to the CLPC, plastic accounts for about 80% of the litter found in shoreline cleanups. An estimated 10,000 tonnes of plastic enters the lakes and surrounding waterways each year.
The Cleanup was launched recently by a number of environmental groups including Pollution Probe and the Council of the Great Lakes Region.
New technology is being used to capture and remove discarded plastic in the water at various marinas.
The Nova donation has added plastic retrieval equipment to the Andrew S. Brandt Marina (formerly Sarnia Bay) and Bridgeview Marina, two of 13 participating marinas.