The City of Cape Town’s Coastal Management Branch, together with its partners Shark Spotters and Pristine Earth Collective, has installed eight litter nets at stormwater outlets located close to beaches in Sea Point.

The nets are made from upcycled redundant anchovy nets.

The installation of the litter nets forms part of a trial project, which aims to reduce the amount of litter being discharged onto the beaches in Sea Point via the stormwater system.

These nets have been installed between Graaf’s Pool and the Sea Point public swimming pool.

Over the first 24 hours, the team retrieved 17 bags of waste from the beach and nets!

The City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Eddie Andrews says teams are on-site, regularly clearing the nets.

I was very encouraged to see that these nets have been very successful in trapping the very small pieces of litter as well. We hope that these litter nets will be a visual reminder and create awareness of the significant challenge that plastic and litter present.

Andrews says the teams will be collecting data on the quantity of rubbish removed from the nets, and they’ve also urged the public to stop dumping any plastic or objects into the stormwater system.

The nets are closed at their ends with a rope. When the nets are full, the rope is untied to remove the litter.

The cleaning will depend on rainfall events as the nets will need to be cleaned more frequently during winter.

Depending on the outcomes of this trial, the City and its partners may look to expand the project to other areas along the city’s coastline.

The project has also created some basic employment opportunities for the removal of litter from the nets and adjacent beaches.

These nets will be cleaned and maintained by a team of 2 people four days a week.

The intention is to separate recyclables from non-recyclables in the litter nets and to recycle wherever possible.

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