Preserving South Africa’s marine heritage and protecting its shores from pollution has been a priority for the global plastics industry, and in South Africa, DPI Plastics is seeing this through.

The company has been a part of the Fishing Line Recovery Programme which has seen the rollout of 360 bins which extend across the entire Kwazulu-Natal coastline.

“DPI Plastics has been involved with the initiative for the past four years, supplying the pipes and fittings for the manufacture of the specially-designed fishing line repositories,” marketing manager Martine Goodchild said.

“We now have fishing line bins along the whole Kwazulu-Natal coastline, managed by local authorities, Ezumvelo KZN Wildlife, and private organisations,” Plastics SA sustainability manager John Kieser said. “Bins are now at all Blue Flag beaches, where fishing line is collected, even though fishing is prohibited in these areas. Bins have also been placed from Witsand to the De Hoop Nature Reserve, and from Port Alfred to Kenton-on-Sea, both popular fishing areas.”

Commenting on the future expansion of the initiative, Kieser said Plastics SA was looking into filling the gaps between areas already covered, and possibly areas on the Namibian coastline that are frequented by South Africans, as well as popular fishing sites on the Skeleton Coast.

The initiative has spread to include diverse areas such as Nature’s Valley, a holiday resort and a small village on the Garden Route along the Southern Cape coast. Here, underwater clean-up operations have targeted monofilament lines on reefs which can sometimes get caught on rocks and other obstructions underwater.

“There have even been requests for bins for some inland areas,” Kieser said.

Internationally, the plastics industry has previously expressed concerns about the large inflow of plastics into the sea.

Monofilament lines are one of the items within this waste stream that has the highest probability of entanglement for all life at sea and on the coast. It has been well documented how cetacea and other marine mammals, together with fish, sea birds, and coastal terrestrial animals, have either been injured or killed after getting caught in fishing lines.

DPI Plastics said that apart from its ongoing commitment to the Fishing Line Bin Recovery Programme, it was a key supporter of the establishment of the African Marine Waste (AMW) network in 2016.

The AMW network aims to facilitate a guide to best practice by developing an effective marine waste strategy for Africa.

“As waste knows no boundaries, the conference aims to draw together participants from all African coastal and island states to develop shared strategies to solve problems within countries and across borders,” Kieser explained.

The AMW Conference 2017 will also provide a global interdisciplinary platform for stakeholders to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns, as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the field of debris and marine waste.

Goodchild urged other manufacturers and suppliers to support Plastics SA in its sustainability initiatives. “The success of the Fishing Line Bin Recovery Programme, in particular, is clearly visible in the decrease of line wastage in angling hotspots where our bins have been prominently located,” she said.