Rubbish spoils Britain's beaches
Thursday, 10 Apr 2008 10:01
Plastic litter is an increasingly unsightly blight on Britain's beautiful beaches and coastal areas, according to the latest study.
The MCS Beachwatch 2007 study was carried out in September and found that plastic litter on British beaches has increased by 126 per cent since 1994.
"The results are truly shocking, in the last ten years plastic drinks bottles have increased by 67 per cent, plastic bags by 54 per cent and cigarette butts by 44 per cent," said Emma Snowden, MCS litter projects coordinator.
"Plastics are of particular concern as they could persist in the marine environment for centuries with fatal consequences for marine wildlife," Ms Snowdon explained.
The report identified four key sources of beach litter - recreational and beach visitors (35.3 per cent), fishing litter (13.7 per cent), sewage related debris/sanitary waste (6.1 per cent) and shipping litter (1.8 per cent).
Nearly 4,000 volunteers surveyed 354 UK beaches in mid-September 2007, covering 168.5 kilometres of coastline and removing over 346,000 litter items.
The average density of UK beach litter was 2,054 items of litter per kilometre, the survey reveals - an average of two items for every metre of beach.