80 per cent drop in carrier bags on UK beaches - MCS

An 80 per cent reduction plastic bags on beaches means far less in the ocean (Photo: Shutterstock)

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has said it welcomes its latest figures which show a decrease of 80 per cent in the average number of plastic carrier bags found per 100 metres of UK beach.

The finding represents a dramatic step forward since a 5 pence per plastic bag charge was levied in 2015, and raised to 10p in 2021. Figures released in 2023 by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) found that overall plastic bag use had dropped by a massive 98 per cent since the charge was first enforced.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch Manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said, ‘It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bag charges working. There is no doubt that these policies have been extremely successful in reducing this frequently littered item. But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels.

‘Our volunteer surveys show 9 out of 10 beach litter items are made from plastic, and drinks-related litter, like bottles and cans, were found on 97 per cent of UK beaches surveyed last year.

‘We need broader policies that charge or ban more single-use items where possible such as the proposed deposit return schemes for plastic bottles, cans, and glass. We must move quicker towards a society that repairs reuses and recycles.’

The Marine Conservation Society has been running a beach litter survey for 30 years, in which volunteers record all litter they find within a 100-metre stretch of beach.

Although the charity’s beach cleaning initiative takes place year-round, the Marine Conservation Society collects a third of its data from volunteer surveys during its annual Great British Beach Clean, which this year runs from Friday 20 to Sunday 29 September.

The programme is one of the largest marine citizen science activities of its kind in the UK and the charity hopes that by gathering more vital data through its beach cleans, it can create change for cleaner and healthier seas. Last year, a total of 4,684 plastic carrier bags were recorded across the UK and Channel Islands by Marine Conservation Society volunteers.

The charity says it hopes to see a reduction on beaches of items such as single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks, polystyrene cups and food containers following a ban in England last year, and similar bans in Scotland in 2022 and Wales in 2023.

So far more than 100 beach cleans have already been organised to take place across the UK during the Great British Beach Clean, from Bude, Cornwall to Aikerness in the Orkney Islands.

For more information about beach cleans, and how to sign up or run your own, visit www.mcsuk.org/beach-cleans