The Litterboom Project

Parley For the Oceans established The Litterboom Project (TLP), which utilizes large pipes that are anchored across the river in order to reduce marine plastic pollution in South Africa.

Large pipes or Litterbooms are capable of collecting and capturing a variety of plastic waste from river systems like high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In addition, these robust pipes were created as a means to prevent plastic waste from reaching the oceans, thus protecting the environment.

These Litterbooms can also be used by local communities to improve the water quality of river systems.How do Litterbooms work? To collect floatable plastic waste, the team anchors the pipes across the river.

Finally, the collected waste is sorted and recycled. Several partnerships have been formed, including with the University of Cape Town, Cape Bulk Bags, and Astore Keymak, among others.

TLP also collaborated with TU Delft and the University of Cape Town in an effort to install its pipes in South Africa's Zandvlei and Liesbeek rivers.Since 2020, the project has prevented more than 300,000 kgs of plastic waste from entering the oceans. Litterbooms have also been installed in 10 rivers throughout the country, with six in KwaZulu-Natal and four in the Western Cape.