DUNBAR Harbour has signed up to a national scheme which has led to more than 90 tonnes of marine life-harming materials being recycled from sites across the country.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Ocean Recovery Project supports the recycling of materials collected from harbours, beaches and the wider environment.

The initiative, funded by the ScottishPower Foundation, has collected tonnes of plastics alongside material recovered from the seabed by divers.

‘Ghost nets’ in particular can cause long-term damage to ocean species. The nets continue to catch marine life, with crabs, rays, fish, mammals and even birds getting caught. These then act as bait for larger species, including seals, dolphins and whales, which have also been found tangled.

Dunbar Harbour has been working in partnership with Ocean Plastic Pots to recycle material.

Neil Hembrow, Ocean Recovery Project manager at Keep Britain Tidy, said: “Plastic pollution is a threat to our oceans and to the marine life that calls them home.

“The Ocean Recovery Project tackles this threat by intercepting and recovering these plastics and then turning them into something useful.”