The 2016 Great British
Beach Clean Report states that the amount of plastic bags found on UK beaches
have almost halved since 2015. The Great British Beach Clean – organized by the
Marine Conservation Society – has been collecting (and recording) beach rubbish
annually for 23 years, and has seen remarkable changes.
The 5,995 volunteers
for the 2016 Great British Beach Clean went to 364 beaches around the United
Kingdom in one weekend in September. The volunteers (called the Pollution Team)
collected 268,384 pieces of rubbish.
In Scotland 1,774
volunteers cleaned 121 beaches, and the amount of rubbish was 18% less than in
2015 with 459 pieces of rubbish for every 100 metres of coast. In England 3,606
volunteers cleaned 196 beaches and the amount of rubbish was about the same as
last year with 802 pieces of rubbish for every 100 metres. In the Channel
Islands 150 volunteers went to 15 beaches and the amount of rubbish was 10%
less than in 2015 with 200 pieces of rubbish per 100 metres. In Wales 408
volunteers went to 28 beaches and found 16% more rubbish than last year with
607 pieces of rubbish per 100 metres. In Northern Ireland 87 volunteers cleaned
up 4 beaches and found 9% more rubbish with 895 pieces per 100 metres.
Over all of the
beaches in the United Kingdom the amount of rubbish was 4% less than last year
with 649 pieces of rubbish, on average, for every 100 metres of beach sand.
In all of UK’s beaches
the volunteers found plastic pieces (31%), cigarette stubs (8%), lolly packets
(7%), caps and lids (5%), string (4%), cotton buds (4%), glass (4%), wet wipes
(2%), fishing lines (2%), plastic drink bottles (2%), and other bits (31%).
The number of plastic
bags on UK beaches almost halved in a year – a decrease of over 40%. The
decrease may be due to the 5 pence fee that people must pay for plastic bags in
supermarkets. People are starting to bring their own recycled plastic bags or
cloth bags to the supermarket, which means less plastic bags in the environment
– and less on UK beaches.
The single use 5p
charge for supermarket plastic bags was introduced in Wales in 2011, Northern
Ireland in 2013, Scotland in 2014, and England in 2015. This has resulted in a
decrease in the number of plastic bags found on UK beaches by 22% in 5 years.
However, the amount of
drink containers on beaches has increased. Bottle caps and lids have also
increased – by about 4% since 2015. Additionally, pieces of party balloons
increased by over 50% compared with 2015, and wet wipes increased too.
Next year the Great
British Beach Clean will be held on 15-18 September 2017. However, people don’t
have to wait until next year because the Marine Conservation Society have
cleanup events throughout the year.
In the month of June
next year, the Marine Conservation Society wil also hold The Plastic Bag
Challenge. The society will encourage people to avoid buying single-use plastic
for the entire month.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
In the meantime they pollute air and streets and choke animals and marine life. Corrugated Plastic Sign
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