Marine Life & Conservation
MCS Beach Clean data reveals urgent need for all-inclusive UK Deposit Return Scheme
The UK’s leading marine charity, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has released the results of its most recent Great British Beach Clean, a UK-wide weekend of coastal cleaning from Land’s End to the Shetland Islands and from Northern Ireland to the Channel Islands.
This year the Great British Beach Clean saw 437 beach cleans and litter surveys take place with over 10,800 volunteers getting involved to remove 10,833 kg of litter from the UK’s beaches…. That’s almost 11 tonnes of litter in one weekend alone. Over the past 26 years MCS has invited volunteers to become citizen scientists and not only clear the beach of litter, but record what they collect, providing valuable data to the charity on what’s polluting the UK’s beaches.
The five most common items per 100m of UK beach:
- Plastic/polystyrene pieces (0-50cm) – 143 per 100m
- Cigarette stubs – 42.6 per 100m
- Glass items (other) – 33.4 per 100m
- Plastic/polystyrene string – 32.6 per 100m
- Packaging (crisps, sweets, lollies and sandwiches) – 30.9 per 100m
Photo: Natasha Ewins
Data from this year’s Great British Beach Clean illustrates the urgent need for the UK’s Governments to implement an all-inclusive Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which would not only minimise single-use plastic bottles littering the beaches, but would remove all types of drinks containers from the UK coastline including glass and cans. Over just one weekend of beach cleaning, MCS volunteers recorded over 16,000 drinks containers of varying forms and an average of four glass bottles for every 100m of beach surveyed. Whilst the potential dangers of single-use plastic bottles have been well documented, glass bottles and cans are equally as dangerous for not only marine life, but for beach visitors.
Laura Foster, Head of Clean Seas said:
“It’s so important to ensure that we’re not taking our foot off the pedal to push the UK’s Governments to adopt all-inclusive DRS at the earliest possible opportunity. The Scottish Government’s commitment to an all-inclusive DRS is a fantastic step in the right direction, but it must be designed to include all drinks containers and must not exclude glass. Delaying the implementation of DRS by a year would result in 50 million additional empty containers littering our beaches, it’s imperative that the planned 2021 implementation date is adhered to.”
“The consultation on a Deposit Return Scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland earlier this year received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public, with over 207,000 responses in favour of an all-inclusive DRS. Disappointingly, the development of DRS for England and Wales has stalled, with the current Government indicating it would need to gather further evidence and to consult further before introducing DRS, the general election has added further delay. Around the world, 40 countries have DRS in place, significantly reducing litter levels and increasing recycling rates. In the meantime, a climate emergency has been declared and our data illustrates that drinks containers continue to pollute our marine environment whilst policy stalls. Other countries have rolled out DRS and we need to act now. DRS should be one of the first policies implemented following the upcoming general election to protect our environment and kick-start behaviour change.”
At this year’s Great British Beach Clean 558 litter items were found per 100m of beach surveyed in the UK, illustrating why it is so important to continue fighting to reduce pollution on our beaches and to implement measures to stop marine pollution at source. Whilst plastic pieces remain the most prolific form of litter (143 pieces found per 100m of beach), cigarette stubs (42 per 100m) and glass items (other) (33 per 100m) make up the top three most common litter items on UK beaches, illustrating the need for further policies, initiatives and bans to be put in place to reduce all forms of beach litter.
Lizzie Prior, Beachwatch Officer said:
“Great British Beach Clean data over the last 26 years has been instrumental in pushing for policies and initiatives which have made a real change to the marine environment, including the 5p carrier bag charge. We hope that this year’s data, when compared with the state of the UK’s beaches 26 years ago, will encourage even more people to get involved in our year round Beachwatch programme to help us gather important data and keep the UK’s beaches beautiful for generations to come.”
Thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch programme can conduct beach cleans year-round, gathering data which supports the charity’s campaigning to stop marine pollution at source.
For more information on the Great British Beach Clean and its 26 years of data, and to find beach cleans happening near you, please visit www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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