Asda backs volunteers’ big litter pick on city’s canals
HUNDREDS of volunteers will take to the water this week to pick up plastic from a 10-mile stretch of canal through Leeds.
Using paddleboards, canoes and boats – and also on foot – they will target the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the Aire & Calder Navigation as part of an initiative organised by Asda and the Canal & River Trust.
It is estimated that 14 million items of plastic end up in waterways each year, causing huge problems for wildlife.
Research carried out by Coventry University for the trust found plastics such as bags, bottles, disposable cups and food wrappers accounted for 59 per cent of the waste.
Asda House sits on the banks of the Aire & Calder Navigation.
The company’s senior director for sustainable business, Chris Brown, said: “As a proud Leeds-based company, we want everyone to be able to enjoy the waterways in our city, free from litter. We’re committed to tackling plastic waste in our own operations, but also have a rolling programme of litter picks in communities across the UK to remove plastic and other litter from our local environments.”
The clean-up starts at Newlay Locks and finishes at Thwaite Mills on Friday.