The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Bottle from the 1970s found among huge amount of plastic waste on Tayside beach
Special offer for 6d off was on washing up liquid container
A man has found litter dating from the 1970s on his local beach.
Paul Morgan, 55, of Monifieth, says he saw thousands of plastic bottles along just a few hundreds yards of beach at Barry Buddon this week while walking his dog.
And he was shocked to discover one of the bottles even pre-dated decimalisation in 1971.
Mr Morgan said: “It’s probably the worst I’ve seen it.
“Apparently, the east wind has been blowing everything from the North Sea on to our beaches.
“There must have been a couple of thousand bottles spread over just 500 yards or so. When you consider that’s just one part of one beach, you realise how much plastic must be in our seas and rivers.
“One of the bottles I found had an offer printed on it to save 6d. Decimalisation happened in 1971, so that bottle could have been swilling around for 47 years.
“There was another one from the early 1980s. It shows something we carelessly discard today could still be doing the rounds in the ocean half a century later.”
The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2017-18 includes proposals for a plastic deposit return scheme in Scotland, similar to those operating in many European countries, which Mr Morgan says he would support.
Catherine Gemmell, Scotland conservation officer for the Marine Conservation Society, agreed it is badly needed as the plastic pollution problem appears to be getting worse.
She said: “Every tide Scotland is seeing more and more plastic hitting our beautiful beaches and our volunteers have seen a particular rise in items like plastic bottles over recent years.”