A boat built with plastic waste set sail from Richmond, as environmental charity Hubtub launched their PET project.

The bought left from Richmond Bridge Boathouse on Thursday, August 30, to raise awareness for the growing levels of plastic pollution in Britain’s waterways. The project and boat is one of only two boats in the world made of 99 percent recycled plastic waste.

The project is funded equally by the Starbucks 5p paper cup charge and Tideway, which is building the super sewer under London to help stop sewage and litter pollution in the River Thames.

PET Project is made from recycled single-use plastic. This most modern of materials, also called ‘Plaswood’, is a recycled plastic material that is used as a substitute for wood. As part of this project, Tideway volunteers collected a tonne of plastic waste from the River Thames, which will be sent to the Plaswood factory in Dumfries, Scotland.

The 12-seater punt has been built by expert boat builder Mark Edwards MBE who also built The Queen’s barge ‘The Gloriana’ and Hubbub’s first boat, ‘Poly-Mer’, which has been collecting plastic waste at London’s Docklands since its launch last year1.

Following its launch, ‘PET Project’ was moored at Richmond Bridge Boathouses where plastic fishing trips will set off from. With each trip, the boat will help remove more plastic debris from the river Thames, which will then be recycled and go towards making further boats with the same aim.

Gavin Ellis, Co-founder and Director of Hubbub said: “It’s fantastic to see that people have woken up to the problem of plastic pollution in our waterways and the terrible impact it has on our environment. 80% of ocean plastic comes from land.

"Litter travels from our hand and ends up in our rivers and oceans where it is broken down and being eaten by and harming wildlife. However, while our awareness has grown, the amount of litter entering our waterways is still increasing.