Thursday, February 26
The Spree and its tributaries are heavily contaminated by plastic waste, new research shows. The Leibniz Institute for Water Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) found that 96% of the waste in the water and on the riverbanks is made of plastic. Food packaging specifically accounts for about a third of the plastic waste and researchers often found cigarette filters in the water.
Waste especially collects beneath the city’s bridges. The highest concentration was discovered at Moabiter Brücke. The researchers conducted the study by analysing waste distribution on 27 bridges over the Spree, Havel, Teltow and Landwehrkanal.
Over an area of 20,250 square meters, they recorded how much garbage was collected and what it was made from. The results showed that, on average, the river contained two large plastic parts per ten square metres.
At this result, one of the researchers, Oleksandra Shumilova, said, “We expected a lot of plastic, but we were amazed that plastic accounts for such a high proportion of water pollution by garbage.” Glass, paper, aluminum or other metals made up only 4% of the waste.
These results point to a larger problem of Berlin’s waste management. Now districts are campaigning for the introduction of a packaging tax to reduce waste in public spaces.
