Greenpeace plastic protesters stand down after blocking INEOS mega tanker for 24 hours

Graham Thompson

July 26, 2025

Greenpeace climbers have ended their protest at the iconic Forth Road Bridge in Scotland after successfully blocking a gas tanker owned by the plastics giant INEOS for 24 hours. All 10 climbers descended safely aided by Greenpeace support boats.

The original press release is available here

The protesters began climbing down their ropes in the early hours of this morning. The protest started on Friday with climbers abseiling from the bridge and unfurling six giant banners reading ‘PLASTICS TREATY NOW’. Their action prevented the INEOS tanker INDEPENDENCE from delivering its cargo of American fracked gas for a full 24 hours, as the vessel can only reach Grangemouth on high tides.

All 10 Greenpeace climbers were voluntarily transported to Port Edgar in South Queensferry where they were arrested by officers from Police Scotland on suspicion of Culpable and Reckless Conduct.

Greenpeace targeted INEOS, the UK’s biggest plastic producer, ahead of critical international talks in two weeks to secure a Global Plastics Treaty to tackle plastic pollution. Every month thousands of tonnes of gas are delivered to Grangemouth where they are turned into billions of tiny plastic pellets (nurdles) that are transported around the world. Greenpeace accuses the company of deliberately undermining the talks so it can continue ramping up plastic production.

The upcoming INC5.2 talks to finalise a Global Plastics Treaty are a once-in-a-generation opportunity for governments to stem the flow of plastic that is causing such harm to our towns, environment and wildlife. Greenpeace is demanding that companies like INEOS and their lobbyists, who have a direct interest in making massive profits from selling plastic, are excluded from the talks allowing governments to reach an ambitious deal.

Amy Cameron, Programme Director at Greenpeace UK said: “We’ve achieved what we set out to. By blocking INEOS, we’ve drawn global attention to the company’s bottomless appetite for plastic production, false solutions and profit for its billionaire boss Jim Ratcliffe.

“Their feeble suggestion that recycling and managing waste can hand them a free pass to go on producing more plastic forever is laughable. It comes from the same industry playbook as the health benefits of smoking and carbon offsetting. The plastic pollution problem is just too massive. Less than 10% of plastic is currently recycled globally, and this is set to rise to just 17% by 2060, while the amount of plastic we’re producing is set to triple. The only solution is to address the problem at source which means securing a strong Global Plastics Treaty that imposes legally-binding caps on plastic production.

“INEOS are cutting jobs at Grangemouth while trying to open a massive new plastics plant in Belgium, leaving Scottish workers high and dry. If Jim Ratcliffe really cared about skilled jobs in Scotland he’d invest his billions in supporting his workers to transition into the green industries of the future, instead of throwing money at Formula 1 racing teams and football clubs.”

Contrary to INEOS’ claims, the protest was both safe and caused minimal disruption. The climbers are all highly-trained and spent weeks rehearsing this action to ensure it was safe. They were supported at all times by rescue climbers and support boats. The Forth Road Bridge carries low volumes of bus, bicycle and pedestrian traffic and was closed by Police Scotland – not by the protest directly.