International Coastal Cleanup report: Marine litter on the rise

"Trash travels: from our hands to the sea, around the globe, and through time" is the title of a new report released by the US-based Ocean Conservancy containing the results of the 2009 International Coastal Cleanup campaign.

The report of this activity, which HELMEPA coordinates every year in Greece, provides the only global snapshot of the marine litter problem.

In total, 500,000 volunteers in 108 countries around the world collected 3.4 million kilograms of litter from 23,861km of beaches as well as lake and river shores. It is worth noting that: 

• 60 percent of litter collected during voluntary cleanups were non-reusable, such as plastic bottles and cups
• 336 marine animals, including 138 birds, were found trapped in marine litter, mainly fishing line and nets; 120 of these were still alive and were released by the volunteer
• Half a million plates, forks, knives and spoons – enough to provide a complete set of dinnerware to over 100,000 people, were disposed of on beaches
• Volunteers found 58,881 bottles of oil/lube, which is the amount that would be used to change the oil in nearly 12,000 mid-sized cars

Marine litter is one of the most widespread pollution problems, with plastics constituting three quarters of total litter items floating on the ocean surface and travelling long distances over many years.

This year's International Coastal Cleanup Day will be held on Saturday, September 25.