Public urged to join nationwide beach clean to tackle plastic pollution
Thousands of volunteers will join The Marine Conservation Society to clean up litter from coastlines for the charity’s Great British Beach Clean from this weekend.
A spike in plastic pollution after the hottest summer ever recorded has led to volunteers being urged to get involved and clear litter from coastlines across the country.
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From Friday, September 18, until next Sunday, September 27, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is hosting an initiative to clean our coastlines as a result of soaring plastic pollution after millions flocked to the coast over the summer.
The event will include teams recording the rubbish they collect, with the findings reported into MCS’s dataset, which has tracked marine litter since 1994.
The organisation said that this year's beach clean will show whether more litter was dropped on UK beaches during the record-breaking hot weather this summer.
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Catherine Gemmell, policy and advocacy manager at MCS, said: “We know simple policies can make a big difference.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg though; our data shows we need more policies to tackle single-use plastic at a much faster rate.”
For the past 32 years, volunteers have recorded more than three million pieces of litter.
This evidence has helped the charity push for stronger measures aimed at addressing harmful waste, including single-use carrier bag charges and legislation to tackle plastic in wet wipes.
According to MCS’s dataset, the number of plastic bags found on British beaches has decreased by 80% since the charges were introduced.
MCS is currently backing the introduction of a nationwide deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers.
The UK-wide scheme is scheduled to launch in October 2027, adding a 20p deposit to eligible cans and bottles that will be returned to customers once they return the empty container.
Last year's MCS beach clean found an average of 105 items made from plastic on every 100 meters of beach surveyed by volunteers, according to 87% of all litter recorded.
The charity also found that certain plastic-based items are on the rise, including fast-food containers and polystyrene pieces.
Microplastics are ingested by marine animals, and larger pieces can cause injuries, starvation, or death through ingestion or entanglement.
The MCS is calling for more action to reduce plastic production, including a decrease in the amount of virgin plastic produced and tougher measures to crack down on single-use plastic.
Information on the nearest beach clean or organising a local event can be found here: www.mcsuk.org/beach-clean