PITCH-IN CANADA
Media Resources

Plastics and cigarette butts major items of
marine debris collected during Coastal Clean Up Campaign

VANCOUVER: The greatest proportion of marine debris collected on Canada's beaches as part of an international coastal clean up was comprised of plastic and, internationally, cigarette butts outnumbered even plastic as the most abundant item collected according to PITCH-IN CANADA, Canadian coordinators for the coastal clean up. Metal debris was recorded as a distant second.

Canadian clean up activities, which were conducted on beaches in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, indicated that plastic comprised 55.28% of debris, metal 14.73%, Glass 13.24%, Paper 11.34%, Rubber 2.32% and cloth 1.97%.

"The Coastal Clean Up Program is a great educational tool for the participants and the general public and that is the program's major goal," says Valerie Thom, Program Manager of PITCH-IN CANADA. "Combined with the statistically valid results obtained from our National Marine Debris Surveillance Program, this data will help decision makers and, hopefully, help motivate contributors to the marine debris problem take corrective action."

World-wide, plastic, including foamed plastic, was also the most abundant form of, at 58.82%, total debris collected by the 214,773 volunteers in 64 countries who scoured 11,260 kilometres of waterways and beaches, collecting 1,840,380 kilograms of debris. That represented 6,201,211 pieces.

Plastic was followed by metal at 11.41%, paper at 10.70% and glass at 10.65%. The remainder was comprised of wood, rubber and cloth, in that order.

28 of the 64 countries participating exceeded the average level for plastics collected and, regionally, the Wider Caribbean recorded the highest percentage of plastic. The largest percentages of plastic were noted in St. Lucia (92.3%), Curaçau (81.82%), Barbados (81.12%) and Norway (77.11%).

The top 12 items of debris found were, in order, cigarette butts, plastic pieces, plastic food bags/wrappers, foamed plastic pieces, glass pieces, plastic caps/lids, paper pieces, plastic beverage bottles, metal beverage cans, plastic straws, glass beverage bottles and metal bottle caps.

It is anticipated that, of the 913,771 cigarette butts collected, many were deposited on streets and reached shorelines and beaches via storm water run-off as well as having been deposited by beachgoers. Cigarette butts have been found in stomachs of birds, whales and other marine creatures.

According to Thom, of PITCH-IN CANADA, which has been conducting beach clean ups for decades, "It's a persistent problem and it is not going away until we find the sources of the problem". Thom adds "In many cases that may mean fixing the `system' which allows debris to flow, or be deposited, into Canada's waterways." Marine debris, after entering the world's oceans, often drifts on currents, traveling between continents and, eventually, fouling beaches or ocean bottoms. Persistent debris such as plastics often entangle animals and is frequently ingested by marine inhabitants which confuse the trash for food.

Canadians who want to register for the annual Coastal Clean Up to held in May and September or who want to find out more about other programs sponsored by PITCH-IN CANADA can  visit at www.pitch-in.ca, by email at pitch-in@pitch-in.ca or by writing to Box 45011, Ocean Park RPO, White Rock, B.C., V4A 9L1.

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To contact Valerie Thom click here