University Of East London Unveils New Innovation To Protect Marine Life

A new eco-friendly bin which will stop rubbish entering the river and the sea and protect marine life was unveiled at the University of East London (
UEL
).

The bin, designed in partnership with
GreenSeas Trust
, will raise awareness of marine plastic pollution and encourage staff, students and visitors to be mindful of their litter around campus by the River Thames and on our beaches.

The bin was unveiled at an event at the UEL’s Docklands campus, which invited Councillor
James Asser
, Deputy Mayor of Newham and Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainable Transport; Dean Curtis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and volunteers from GreenSeas Trust, a marine conservation dedicated to eliminating plastics in our oceans.

Councillor James Asser, Deputy Mayor of Newham, said:

Sustainability and improving the environment is a key priority for Newham Council and along with our partners like the University of East London, we’re working very hard to help reduce our environmental impact.

We are working to increase recycling in Newham and this interesting, eye-catching bin is a great way to grab someone’s attention and encourage them to do more recycling. There’re a few of them around the country and we’re delighted to have one here in our borough and hopefully we can introduce more.

Ensuring that our rivers and waterways are clean from pollution is as important as the work we do in our neighbourhoods; and hopefully this will make people think and will help keep the docks and the Thames clean.

Throw marine life a lifeline
The bin was designed in 2019 by Emily Hodgkinson and George Davis, product design alumni who won BinForGreenSeas, a competition which challenged students across the country to design an eye-catching recycling bin.

The bin is 1.5 metres high, made from fibre glass and material from approximately 450 recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles.

The design was created in the shape of stacked rubber life rings with a caption saying, “throw marine life a lifeline.” It includes pictures of plastic bags in an ocean to represent how sharks and whales die from eating plastic after mistaking them for jelly fish and includes stats detailing the damaging impact that this has on other marine wildlife.

Ten bins have been manufactured so far and this will be the second London location after Canary Wharf to receive a bin. UEL will be the first university in the country to host one and support GreenSeast Trust with their mission to eliminate plastics and protect sea life.

Fazilette Khan, Founder of the GreenSeas Trust, said: “Our main focus has always been education, so what better way to implement that than at a high-level educational institution like the University of East London, and the birthplace of the design that kickstarted the BinForGreenSeas.

“There are over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the sea and counting and we are dedicated to reducing our impact as much as possible with the help of our partnerships and volunteers.”

Dean Curtis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “We’re so proud to be the first university in the UK to receive and host a BinForGreenSeas which was designed by our impressive and outstanding alumni. It goes to show that the work our students do can really make a positive impact and change the world.

“Alarmingly, it is estimated that 94,000 microplastics per second flow down the River Thames. This is the highest measured rate of any river in the world.

“Working together with our partners in Newham and all over London, we can use projects like this to improve water quality in our city and help to save our ocean and marine systems.”

Professor David Tann
, Dean of the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering added that: “Our aim is to become the most sustainable university in London, embedding environmental practices into everything that we do, and we have committed to be net zero carbon by 2030.

“Our mission must go beyond our university and work with our east London community. By providing this educational bin, our neighbours and visitors who walk through our campus will see our dedication to sustainability and be able to learn more about how they can better dispose of plastics to protect our environment.”