The Marine Conservation Society’s annual litter survey has shown a significant decrease in the number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches, with a reduction of 80% over the past decade. This decline is attributed to the mandatory fee imposed on single-use carrier bags at checkout, ranging from 5p to 25p, in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England.
Lizzie Price, Beachwatch programme manager at MCS, praised the success of policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bags. She called on the devolved UK governments to continue pushing forward with initiatives to reduce single-use items and speed up proposed deposit schemes for plastic bottles, cans, and glass.
The 2023 beach litter report by MCS found that 97% of surveyed beaches had drinks-related litter, such as bottles and cans, with 4,684 plastic bags being collected. The most commonly found items included plastic pieces, wrappers, caps, lids, and plastic bottles.
Despite an overall increase of 1.2% in plastic litter across the UK, efforts to clean up the beaches continue with over 100 litter-picks planned for the upcoming Great British Beach Clean event in September. The event aims to involve volunteers in cleaning up beaches from Bude in Cornwall to Aikerness in the Orkney Islands.
The four nations of the UK have worked together to reduce beach litter and aim for a society that repairs, reuses, and recycles to protect the environment. The success of reducing plastic bags on UK beaches demonstrates the positive impact of implementing policies to tackle single-use plastics.
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Photo credit www.theguardian.com
