Maribyrnong River choked by polystyrene, plastic, furniture and bikes

A national environmental leader is appealing to Melburnians to clean up their act, with almost 3000 water bottles among rubbish removed from the Maribyrnong River in one day. SEE THE PHOTOS

Thousands of water bottles cleared from the Maribyrnong River.

The Maribyrnong River is being treated as a dumping ground, with almost 3000 water bottles removed in just one day.

More than 100 people took to kayaks and dragon boats on June 1 to drag mountains of plastic and other waste from the Maribyrnong River.

Sunday’s group was led by Ocean Crusaders founder Ian Thomson, who said 1030kg of rubbish, including two bikes and 2870 plastic water bottles, was cleared from a 400m stretch of river alone.

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Plastic, straws and corks found during the Maribyrnong River cleanup.

Bikes stuck in the river marshlands.

Hard rubbish dredged from the river.

Figures from Melbourne Water showed 10 cubic metres of rubbish has been cleared from the river since July 1 last year.

A 10-day river blitz in March covered 2km and collected 1.5 tonnes of rubbish, including chairs.

Mr Thomson said there was “not enough time, not enough people” to cover a larger area.

“We pulled out 980kg in the same spot last year,” he said.

The most common items found were polystyrene, plastic bottles, and plastic food packaging.