Arctic trash removal starts on Franz Josef Land
© Sergei Panteleyev

Arctic trash removal starts on Franz Josef Land

An operation to collect man-made garbage has started on the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the TASS agency reports. This season's first consignment has been delivered to the port of Arkhangelsk.

"The removal of Arctic trash has begun. The first voyage to deliver it from Franz Josef Land to Arkhangelsk has been carried out," Alexander Kirilov, deputy director for security at the Russian Arctic National Park, said.

According to Kirilov, a clean-up is now in progress on Graham Bell and Heiss islands.

The Arctic clean-up is being carried out under the Program and Project to Eliminate Sources of Negative Impacts on Polluted Territories of the Franz Josef Archipelago, developed by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in cooperation with the Council for the Study of Productive Forces state research institution in 2011.