Clean-up finds 76,000 pieces of plastic choking coastline

SCOTLAND’S beaches are being left strewn with 559 pieces of rubbish on average for every 100m of coast.

The shocking figure was exposed by the Marine Conservation Society, which cleaned 500 UK beaches in September.

Overall, it removed more than 2.5 tons of litter from Scotland’s beaches, with 75,807 items picked up along ten miles of surveyed coastline.

But in a possible glimmer of hope, the charity said the numbers of littered items found across the UK were around 16 per cent lower than last year.

While the drop may be a fluctuation, the charity said it could be a sign that environmental campaigns, including those launched by the Daily Mail, are beginning to take effect.

The number of people who volunteered to scour Britain’s beaches this year rose to 14,527, up from 6,944 last year.

Last February, the Scottish Daily Mail launched a Banish the Bottles campaign calling for a 10p charge to be introduced on bottles and cans which is then refunded when the containers are returned to shops for recycling.

During September’s clean-up, volunteers cleared away more than 8.5 tons of rubbish across our shores.

The MCS said that along every 100 metres of Scottish coastline they were finding rubbish including pieces of plastic, cup lids, cotton bud sticks, wet wipes, cans and bottles, bags and polystyrene cups.

Other rubbish included cigarette butts, lollipop sticks, pieces of glass, paper and card and bits of fishing net and line as well as pill packets and syringes.

MCS spokesman Lizzie Prior said: ‘The Great British Beach Clean is just a snapshot of the UK litter story and must be seen in the context of the broader trending picture. There’s more litter in our seas than there has ever been.’

More sewage-related debris such as nappies, cotton buds and wet wipes were found on Scottish beaches than anywhere else in the UK.

Catherine Gemmell, MCS Scotland Conservation Officer, said: ‘This year’s appalling figures show that the Scottish ban [on plastic cotton buds] cannot be implemented soon enough.’