Natural Course

Background

Micro plastics are known to cause issues to marine life and their accumulation in our oceans is of growing concern. Research published in 2018 identified micro plastic accumulation in rivers as a significant contributor to the build-up in our oceans alongside problems it can cause to the river itself and the life within it. Whilst this research identified the problem it did not identify the cause or what could be done to resolve so further work is needed to understand the issue in more detail.

What we are doing

Natural Course will support a study to investigate this issue further and provide a better understanding of the sources of the problem and what can be done to tackle it.

Who else is involved?

This project will involve the commission of external capacity jointly by GMCA, United Utilities and the Environment Agency.

 Project location

Catchments within Greater Manchester with a focus on the River Tame.

Latest update

The main deliverable for this activity will be a report on the sources contributing to micro plastics in the rivers of Greater Manchester and recommendations to help reduce this issue in the future.