Ross Kemp has voiced his disgust at plastic pollution as he recalls seeing the impact first-hand while filming for a new documentary.
The former Emmerdale star has become renowned for his documentaries since leaving the soap, with Ross Kemp on Gangs winning a Bafta for best factual series.
Kemp has also faced the Taliban, Somali pirates and been in actual war zones for his Extreme World series.
However he recently came across something which disgusted him to the core while filming a new documentary much closer to home.
The star is working on the second season of Shipwreck Treasure Hunter, which sees him dive deep off the coast in search of items of significance.
When recently diving in the UK, Kemp saw animals covered in plastic due to the ‘atrocious’ pollution in our seas.
‘The amount of plastic pollution in our oceans is absolutely atrocious,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
‘You might see it washed up on the beach but that is a fraction of what is in our oceans. Only recently, diving off Lundy, I saw a seal with plastic wrapped around one of its fins.
Elsewhere in the UK, ‘I saw a cormorant moving past me when I was 25 metres deep, and it had plastic around its neck. The amount of times I’ve been out on small boats and we’ve had to stop because there’s plastic around the propellor.’
The actor and environmental activist has teamed up with company Lyfecycle, which has developed a biodegradable or ‘self-destructing’ plastic.
Together, they are calling for sport stadiums around the world to bring in the biodegradable plastic cups, which have already been in use at Twickenham for some time.
He was at the stadium over the weekend ahead of England’s match against South Africa where he showcased a ‘self-destructing’ cup which biodegrades within two years, leaving no microplastics or toxins behind.
He said: ‘If you can come up with a plastic that biodegrades…you are lifting a heavy heavy weight off the planet.
‘A weight that I’m sadly responsible for and generations before me have been responsible for.
‘I was born in the 60s, and in the 70s everything was made of plastic. And now as I travel the world making documentaries, everywhere I go I see plastic.
‘In Libya, where the sands blow by the side of the road you see sand, plastic, sand, plastic. Eight years of sand under layers of plastic.
‘My generation are more guilty probably than any other generation before us. Particularly in the last 60 or 70 years, in human beings’ ability to pollute the world, we’ve done an outstanding job.’
Mainstream use of Lyfecycle’s technology, which can be used in everything from plastic bottles to baby wipes and face masks, could be ‘globe-changing,’ he said.
‘If people start adopting this in venues around the world using the Lyfecycle cup and the technology it brings, it will change plastics forever.’
As well as seeing the damage of plastic pollution first-hand, Kemp says he got involved in the campaign as it’s making a difference without ‘ramming it down people’s throats.’
‘It’s having a positive effect on the environment without being lecture-y, without those issues… it’s an excellent way of doing something about it, being part of something, without necessarily having to get a big flag out to do so.’
The products work by being ‘self-destructing’ or biodegradable, with Kemp explaining: ‘If this cup doesn’t end up in a recycling bin and it ends up somewhere on street, in a field, in the ocean, over two years it will degrade itself.
‘There’s so much plastic out there. If the technology exists to make it self-destruct and no longer harm this planet then we should embrace it.’
Liepa Olsauskaite, Lyfecycle spokesperson, said: ‘Plastic pollution is still out of control, and change is not happening fast enough – which is where Lyfecycle’s self-destructing technology and visionary partners like Twickenham come in.
‘We are delighted that rugby fans at Twickenham have engaged so strongly with this campaign. We have to act now: if we continue down our current path, 450 million further tonnes of plastic will reach the oceans by 2040.’
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