Portsmouth beaches are cleaner thanks to Veolia

Last month, a team of 35 staff from Veolia Environmental Services across Hampshire donated their annual half-day volunteering time to clear litter and debris from the shoreline alongside the M275 motorway from Whale Island to Port Solent. In total, over 27 tonnes of waste was removed and has improved amenity access for local residents.

Heavy lifting equipment was called in to pick up the largest items from the beach, including flotsam and jetsam such as industrial-size tyres.  Over another three days, the teams of staff on foot picked up the rest of litter that has accumulated over years.

Richard Johnson, Projects Director for Veolia, said: “These beaches were the poor relation compared to other parts of the Portsmouth coastline, with so much debris piled up. The area is much tidier and improves the look of our coast, which is visible to residents and visitors from the nearby motorway.”

Veolia employees all have an allowance for a half-day’s volunteering in working time, which supports the company’s corporate responsibility aims. Our parent company Veolia Environnement was also selected to be in the FTSE4Good and Ethibel Sustainability indexes.