Book a Plastic Fishing trip

Turning the tide on marine litter

'Poly-Mer' and 'PET Project' are the world's first recycled plastic punts, made from 99% recycled plastic waste. They are part of a new wave of Plastic Fishing trips taking place in and around London's Docklands to fish plastic out of the river. We will make more boats like Poly-Mer from the collected plastic litter, creating a recycled flotilla to help clean our waterways.

Where is the litter coming from?

Each year 300 tonnes of rubbish is cleared from the Thames and a large proportion of it is food and drink packaging, that comes from dry land. Much of the litter is being eaten by birds, fish and other species which is leading to the 70% of Thames fish found to have plastic in their gut. At current rates there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.

How the recycled plastic punts were made

The punts were built by Mark Edwards MBE, a Richmond-based boat builder who previously built the Queen’s barge, ‘Gloriana’. He built ‘Poly-Mer’ and 'PET Project' as 12-seater punts. The traditional design is over a thousand years old but the material is one of the most modern imaginable:100% recycled plastic waste known as Plaswood. This is the first time it has been used for this purpose.

Watch our 4 part film series showing the journey from bottle to boat:

Book a Plastic Fishing trip

If you would like to take part in a Plastic Fishing trip, Poly-Mer is available for group hire. The funds raised from these trips will finance the production cost of the expansion of the fleet, as well as supporting school trips.

Why go on a Plastic Fishing trip?

The trips offer spectacular views of Canary Wharf, are lots of fun, and offer a great team building activity whilst also being educational about the wider issue of plastics in the waterways. The funds raised from these trips will finance the cost of making more boats, as well as supporting trips for London schoolchildren.

What's included?

Each Plastic Fishing trip lasts for 2 hours. Trips include: 45+ minutes of fishing, prizes for the team that collects the most, or most interesting, plastic and a bespoke workshop with educational activities and team games on the environmental background of the issue. All trips are led by a qualified sailing instructor.

When can you go?

Plastic fishing trips take place between Monday - Friday at Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre, E14.

How many people can go on a trip?

We offer trips for groups of 20-35 people.

To book your trip, email [email protected] or call 020 3701 7544.

With thanks to the City Bridge Trust, we will receive £77,250 over three years to support the delivery of educational school Plastic Fishing trips. We have also had support from Tideway London and Starbucks who have funded the second Plastic Fishing punt, 'PET Project', launched in August 2018.

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Fascinating project! Has the boat been built solely out of plastic collected from the Thames? If so how long did it take to collect all the plastic and what was the raw weight of plastic collected?

From: Chloe Clay

Published: 15 February 2018

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