The programme is one of the largest marine citizen science activities of its kind in the UK. Volunteers taking part will not only be clearing our beaches of litter, but help the Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading ocean membership charity, to gather vital data to create change for cleaner and healthier seas.

This year’s Great British Beach Clean is being sponsored by Ireland’s leading soup brand, Cully & Sully Soup, whose support is helping to raise awareness of marine litter and protect UK beaches from pollution.

To sign up for a beach clean, or organise your own, simply visit the charity’s website.

Key stats and facts

• At last year’s Great British Beach Clean, 5,416 volunteers conducted 428 beach cleans over 10 days, surveying 64,139 metres of coastline. A total of 129,391 pieces of litter were collected, filling 1,426 bags and weighing 7,476 kg.
• The Marine Conservation Society has recorded an average drop of 80% in carrier bags found on UK beaches since charges were introduced, showing that policies to reduce plastic work.
• Data collected during the Great British Beach Clean contributes toward the charity’s annual State of our Beaches report. Last year’s report recorded a 14% increase in drinks-related litter.
• The report also showed that nine out of 10 beach litter items found on beaches by Marine Conservation Society volunteers last year were made from plastic.
• Sewage plays a large part in the pollution problem. In 2023, over 29,500 sewage-related items, including more than 21,000 wet wipes, were recorded across the UK and Channel Islands, with sewage-related items present on 72% of surveyed beaches.
• Data from the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean contributes to a global database, International Coastal Cleanup.

Key messages:

• Data collected by volunteers during the Great British Beach Clean shows the positive result of policies like carrier bag charges, and how they work to reduce litter on our beaches.
• Plastic still remains the most common form of beach pollution – highlighting the urgent need for further action to tackle the single-use plastic problem such as charges, bans and deposit return schemes.
• The Marine Conservation Society is calling for governments across the UK implement world-class deposit return schemes for drinks containers including glass, plastic, and cans, without any further delay. Currently the proposed scheme is set to start in October 2027, but with Wales being the only country to include glass.
• The charity hopes that the recent bans on single-use plastics, such as cutlery, will lead to a noticeable reduction in the amount of single-use plastic cutlery polluting our beaches, much like the positive impact of the carrier bag charge.
• Sewage-related pollution, such as period products and wet wipes, are still prevalent on our beaches. Governments of the UK must turn the tide on pollution and end untreated sewage damaging our marine environment.
• You can support the charity by helping to clean up the UK’s beaches and collecting valuable data that supports efforts to address sewage pollution effectively.

ON THE DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME:

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society: “It’s fantastic to see real-world evidence of the effectiveness of policies such as carrier bag charges in tackling pollution from single-use plastics. There’s no denying that these measures have helped to reduce litter on our beaches. However, we cannot afford to become complacent.

“Drinks-related litter, such as bottles and cans, were found on 97% of UK beaches surveyed last year. We need wider policies such as charges, bans, or deposits on more single-use items where possible, including the proposed deposit return schemes for plastic bottles, cans, and glass. We must keep moving towards a society that repairs, reuses, and recycles.”

ON SEWAGE POLLUTION:

Rachel Wyatt, the Marine Conservation Society’s Water Quality Policy & Advocacy Manager:

“Our seas cannot sustain the deluge of sewage that is being dumped into our waterways on a weekly basis. Our beach clean volunteers find thousands of sewage-related litter items washed up on the beaches every year, but it’s not just physical pollution that is harmful to us and marine life. Raw sewage contains a cocktail of bacteria, viruses, harmful chemicals, and microplastics which is a disaster for our ocean. Governments of the UK must turn the tide on pollution and end untreated sewage damaging our marine environment, so that we can all enjoy sewage-free seas.”

ON VOLUNTEERING:

Clare Trotman, Beachwatch Officer at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “The work we do at the Marine Conservation Society simply wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of our volunteers, who help gather crucial beach litter data. This information is invaluable in shaping scientific understanding and driving the changes needed to protect our precious marine environment.

“With beach cleans taking place all over the UK and Channel Islands, there are countless opportunities to get involved and support us this year. And if you can’t make it to the beach, you can still contribute by organising a local litter pick and survey in your area.”

Cully Allen from Great British Beach Clean sponsor, Cully & Sully Soup, said: “We are excited to be part of the UK’s biggest beach clean initiative for a third year. As a B Corp, doing good is at the core of what we do. We are always striving to do better internally as a business, but we really enjoy when we get to encourage and join our customers in doing good. We are looking forward to getting stuck into the beach cleans again this year, serving up our soup to the SOUPer volunteers and taking direct action on marine litter.”

The following beach cleans are currently set to take place:

Find more information about the Marine Conservation Society at www.mcsuk.org.

6 years ago, The Ocean Cleanup set sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with one goal: to develop the technology to be able to relegate the patch to the history books. On 6 September 2024, The Ocean Cleanup fleet returns to San Francisco bringing with it System 03 to announce the next phase of the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and to offer you a chance to view our cleanup system up-close and personal.
We look forward to seeing you there.

To confirm your presence, please RSVP to press@theoceancleanup.com

PROGRAM

Join The Ocean Cleanup as our two iconic ships and the extraction System 03 return to San Francisco, 6 years and over 100 extractions after we set sail, to create and validate the technology needed to rid the oceans of plastic.
Our founder and CEO, Boyan Slat, will announce the next steps for the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Giving you a chance to view our cleanup system and the plastic extracted.
Hear important news on what’s next in the mission of The Ocean Cleanup as it seeks to make its mission of ridding the world’s oceans of plastic an achievable and realistic goal.
Interviews and vessel tours are available on request.

PRACTICALITIES 

Date: September 6, 2024
Press conference: 12 pm (noon)
Location: The Exploratorium (Google Maps)
Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street), San Francisco, CA
Parking: Visit The Exploratorium’s website for details.
RSVP: press@theoceancleanup.com
Video & photo material from several viewing spots around the bay

We look forward to seeing you there!

ABOUT THE OCEAN CLEANUP
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: intercepting in rivers to stop the flow and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops and deploys large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced 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. As of June 2024, the non-profit has collected over 12 million kilograms (26.4 million pounds) of plastic from aquatic ecosystems around the world. 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, and opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2023.

Find out more about The Ocean Cleanup at www.theoceancleanup.com.