Over 300 pieces of litter stopped from reaching the waterways from a loading zone.
Last year Stormwater360 approached Farro Fresh to install a trial LittaTrap in a loading zone stormdrain to monitor how much plastic and litter could be stopped from entering the stormwater system.The LittaTrap was installed at the Mairangi Bay store,and was maintained and monitored over six months.The LittaTrap is a solution for companies that have a commitment to our environment.Those companies that want to take a proactive approach to stopping plastic from their site entering the stormwater system and making its way to the ocean.
The LittaTrap was placed outside the service entrance to the supermarket where goods are received and dispatched.The catchment area wasapprox. 500 sq metres.
The final results yielded a total of 312 pieces of rubbish captured. The litter counted was typical of the environment in which the LittaTrap was installed, including soft and hard plastics, glass, cigarettes, metals and woods.
The largest type of pollutant counted was plastic food wrapping ( 83 pieces), followed by soft and hard plastic, and polystyrene. Without the LittaTrap installed, these pieces of litter would flow straight into the stormwater system and out to sea.
The LittaTrap also captured over 12kgs of organic matter, mainly consisting of leaves and food waste. Organic matter that makes it into our waterways leaches nitrogen and phosphorus – both harmful nutrients to our waterways.
The LittaTrap installed captured over 300 pieces of detrimental litter that would have otherwise ended up in our oceans. This was only one LittaTrap, in one location, for a short period of time. There are over 3000 supermarkets in New Zealand, this means that we could be stopping over one and half million pieces of plastic every year if every loading zone had a LittaTrap installed.
