Plastic bags, butts and bottles blight Britain's beautiful beaches more then ever before!

10/04/2008

The amount of plastic littering Britain’s beautiful beaches is at its highest level since records began, according to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Beachwatch 2007 survey report published today. The MCS Beachwatch 2007 Report shows that plastic litter on our beaches has increased by a staggering 126% since the annual survey began in 1994. Plastic debris now accounts for over 58% of all litter found on UK beaches, including plastic bags and plastic drinks bottles. Plastic-based cigarette butts are also amongst the most frequently encountered litter items. 

Sadly, the tide of plastic litter is not just an unsightly blight on Britain’s magnificent coastline. Over 170 species of marine wildlife including seabirds, turtles and whales have been recorded mistaking marine litter for food resulting in starvation, poisoning and fatal stomach blockages. In addition, plastic packaging and discarded fishing nets injure, entangle and drown some of Britain’s favourite marine wildlife, including seals and dolphins.

 “The results are truly shocking, in the last 10 years plastic drinks bottles have increased by 67%, plastic bags by 54% and cigarette butts by 44%. Plastics are of particular concern as they could persist in the marine environment for centuries with fatal consequences for marine wildlife,” said Emma Snowden, MCS Litter Projects Coordinator, “The Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch volunteers remove tons of litter from beaches, and using the survey data they collect, MCS is raising awareness about this serious situation and the solutions. The plastic litter problem needs to be tackled at all levels, from grassroots through to Government, while industry and retail sectors must acknowledge the need to reduce plastic bag use and packaging ”.

The MCS Beachwatch 2007 Report is based on data collected by almost 4,000 volunteers on 354 UK beaches surveyed in mid-September 2007. Volunteers surveyed 168.5km of coast and removed over 346,000 litter items. This latest report identifies four key sources of beach litter - recreational & beach visitors (35.3%), fishing litter (13.7%), sewage related debris/sanitary waste (6.1%) and shipping litter (1.8%). The average density of UK beach litter in the MCS Beachwatch 2007 survey was 2,054 items of litter per kilometre  – an average of two items for every metre stretch of beach! While MCS lobbies for a national strategy to tackle this extraordinary volume of rubbish washing up on our beaches, it also encourages individual responsibility for litter disposal.

 “Everyone can help prevent some of the most common plastic items littering our beaches and seas by reducing their use,“ Emma Snowden continues, “By taking simple steps such as taking re-usable  bags to the supermarket, re-filling plastic bottles with good old-fashioned tap water, and disposing of litter responsibly, including cigarette butts, we can all make a difference”.

The full MCS Beachwatch 2007 results can be downloaded at http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk/. In addition to Beachwatch, MCS also promotes the “Go Plastic Bag Free” initiative and currently has over 70 towns and communities in the UK signed up to the campaign.  Information about other MCS litter campaigns, including the highly successful “Don’t Let Go!” campaign which promotes wildlife-friendly use of balloons can be found at www.adoptabeach.org.uk>>further action>>litter campaigns.

MCS is extremely grateful to The Crown Estate for funding the litter projects, and MCS Beachwatch is an excellent example of The Crown Estate and the Marine Conservation Society working together for the eighth consecutive year to raise public awareness of marine pollution and encourage participation at a local level.

Dr Carolyn Heeps, Head of Marine Policy and Sustainable Development at the Crown Estate says, “Beachwatch and its thousands of volunteers continues to highlight the increasing problem of litter on Britain’s beaches.  We know that individual action is the answer to a large part of the problem so we hope that everyone will take notice of the Marine Conservation Society’s report and will act responsibly to keep Britain’s beaches beautiful and free of litter.”

The Marine Conservation Society works in cooperation with the Project AWARE Foundation to organise underwater cleanup events.  The data from MCS Beachwatch surveys also contributes to the International Coastal Cleanup, involving over 70 countries worldwide, organised by the Ocean Conservancy in the United States. MCS would like to thank all of the volunteers that participated in Beachwatch 2007, without whose hard work and dedication the Beachwatch survey would not be possible.

ENDS

For further information about MCS Beachwatch 2007 and photographs contact:

Emma Snowden, MCS Litter Projects Coordinator – Tel: 01989 567807/ 07793 118388

Sue Kinsey, MCS Litter Policy Officer – Tel: 01989 567807

Simon Brockington, MCS Head of Conservation -   Tel: 01989 561595

Richard Harrington, MCS Communications Manager – Tel: 01989 561585 / 07793 118384

General Marine Conservation Society switchboard – Tel: 01989 566017

The Beachwatch 2007 Summary Report is now available from MCS and can be downloaded at http://www.mcsuk.org/ and www.adoptabeach.org.uk from Thursday 10th April, alternatively the report can be emailed by request from beachwatch@mcsuk.org. The full report can also be downloaded at http://www.mcsuk.org/ and http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk/.  Photographs available to download from

http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk/pages/pressimages.php.

Editors Notes

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife.  MCS campaigns for clean seas and beaches, sustainable fisheries, protection of marine life and their habitats, and the sensitive use of our marine resources for future generations.  Through education, community involvement and collaboration, MCS raises awareness of the many threats that face our seas and promotes individual, industry and government action to protect the marine environment. MCS provides information and guidance on many aspects of marine conservation and produces the annual Good Beach Guide (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk), the Good Fish Guide and http://www.fishonline.org/ on sustainable seafood, as well as promoting public participation in volunteer projects and surveys such as Beachwatch, Adopt-a-Beach and Basking Shark Watch.http://www.mcsuk.org/ The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is celebrating 25 years of protecting our precious seas, shores and wildlife this year. MCS will be running a series of events and initiatives in 2008 to highlight the need for better protection of our seas, celebrate the wildlife they support and give opportunities for people to take an active part - on land or at sea.

MCS Beachwatch is an annual UK-wide beach litter survey and clean up, organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) since 1993.  Beachwatch is the flagship event of the Adopt-a-Beach project, which encourages local volunteers to survey marine litter every quarter.  Volunteers remove all the litter from a measured area of their local beach, recording every item that they find.  The data gathered from Beachwatch every September is published by MCS in the Beachwatch Report.  This information is used at a national level to raise awareness of the impacts of litter, to promote measures to reduce litter at source and to campaign for aquatic litter legislation.  The fifteenth Beachwatch litter survey and beach clean took place on the 15th and 16th September 2007.

Summary of MCS Beachwatch 2007 results:

Volunteers	3,911
Number of beaches surveyed	354
Total length surveyed (km)	168.5
Number of bags	2,771
% Recreational & Beach Visitors	35.3
% Fishing	13.7
% Sewage Related Debris *	6.1
% Shipping	1.8
% Fly Tipped	0.9
% Medical	0.2
% Non - Sourced	41.9
Total number of items	346,054
Total volunteer hours	8375.47
Mean items/km	2,054

*If data from one beach where over 8,000 cotton bud sticks were recorded is removed, the percentage for SRD is 3.6%

Top 20 items of litter recorded in Beachwatch 2007

 

The Marine Conservation Society’s Adopt-a-Beach project was established in 1999 to encourage individuals and groups to look after their local beach on a more regular basis by carrying out seasonal litter surveys and beach clean ups, to identify local sources of litter and raise awareness of the problems caused by litter. Further information can be found on the Adopt-a-Beach website:www.adoptabeach.org.uk

The Crown Estate has supported the Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch campaign through its Marine Stewardship Fund since 1999.  As owner of over half the UK’s foreshore and almost all the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit The Crown Estate places great emphasis on the good management and stewardship of the diverse coastal land in its care.  The Crown Estate works with many organisations throughout the UK including government departments, public bodies, environmental groups, industry and local communities to ensure appropriate development and conservation of the coastline. Beachwatch is an excellent example of The Crown Estate and the Marine Conservation Society working together for the eighth consecutive year to raise public awareness of marine pollution and encouraging participation at a local level. For more information about The Crown Estate visit www.thecrownestate.co.uk or contact: Katie King, Communications Dept, The Crown Estate: 020 7851 5009

katie.king@thecrownestate.co.uk

MCS would also like to thank The London Aquarium and Capital International Limited for their support of Beachwatch and Adopt-a-Beach in 2007.

The International Coastal Cleanup, involving over 70 countries worldwide, is co-ordinated by the Ocean Conservancy in the United States, and provides a ‘snapshot’ of the amounts and sources of litter being washed up or dumped on beaches around the world.

Appendix A: Regional Breakdown of Beachwatch 2007 Results

A1: Country and Regional variations in litter density recorded in Beachwatch 2007

Region

No. of Beaches Surveyed

Total No. of Volunteers

Total litter items

Total length surveyed (km)

Items/km in 2007

Items/km in 2006