New litter collection device will help keep plastics out of our waterways

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington will install its first Trash Trout on Burnt Mill Creek on Friday, July 15th.

The passive litter collection device will be installed by Cape Fear River Watch in partnership with the Waterkeepers Carolina as part of a statewide plastics reduction effort funded by the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Environmental Enhancement Grant.

The Trash Trout is fabricated by Asheville Greenworks, an Asheville-based nonprofit, as part of their litter prevention program.

The device is a large cage with a wide mouth that floats on pontoons. Booms are anchored upstream on each bank to direct floating debris into the mouth of the cage. Large pieces of floating trash and plastic are trapped inside the Trash Trout, while smaller organic matter passes through and fish and other aquatic wildlife pass below the device.

According to Eric Bradford, Asheville Greenworks’s Director of Operations, roadside littering accounts for approximately 75% of the trash in the nation’s waterways. “Each time it rains, trash is funneled through our storm drain systems directly into our creeks,” Bradford said. “Since most municipal stormwater systems lack filters or other mechanisms to keep the trash from entering our waterways, these Trash Trouts are necessary tools for our communities to clean up our rivers.”

Once trash has entered the Burnt Mill Creek, it begins the process of photodegradation whereby petroleum-based products such as plastics begin to break into smaller pieces known as microplastics. Some of these tiny pieces of plastic are consumed by wildlife, and the rest of the debris will go on a journey that will take it through Smith Creek, the Northeast Cape Fear River, the Cape Fear, and finally into the Atlantic Ocean.

Rob Clark, Water Quality Programs Manager at Cape Fear River Watch, says that the River Watch has plans to deploy more Trash Trouts across the basin. “This project is a natural extension of our microplastics data collection,” explains Clark. “Our goal is to interrupt the waste stream to protect aquatic habitat while educating the community about the plastic crisis.” Cape Fear River Watch will service the Trash Trout and will collect data on every piece of litter collected.

Each Trash Trout costs approximately $10,000 to manufacture and install, not including the additional staff and volunteer time needed to empty and maintain the devices. Cape Fear River Watch is seeking support from businesses and individuals in the form of sponsorships in order to deploy more of these litter collection devices. “We have a generous community that’s dedicated to keeping our area waterways healthy and clean,” Clark said. “If we all pitch in together, we can make a real difference when it comes to plastic pollution.”

The Trash Trouts are part of Cape Fear River Watch’s larger microplastics program. The conservation nonprofit collects and analyzes monthly water samples for the presence of microplastics and is using this data in partnership with other Riverkeepers across North Carolina to inform and develop programs to keep plastics out of our waters.