British rivers are so polluted with waste almost all samples contain microplastics, and one is choked with a higher concentration of plastic than the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, the world’s largest accumulation of floating debris, in the north-central area of the ocean, a report has found.
The study of 13 UK rivers by Greenpeace revealed they all had microplastics in them, but the Mersey, which runs from Stockport, through suburban Manchester and empties into Liverpool Bay, was found to be the most contaminated.
Researchers pulled an astonishing 875 pieces of plastic from the river in half an hour, using specially designed nets.
