Marine litter issues, impacts and actions

9 Evaluation of Current Marine Litter Initiatives

9.1 Overview

There are a plethora of initiatives which exist at the local, regional and national scales both in the UK and Scotland, a number of which are specific to marine litter, others towards general litter management and environmental stewardship. In this section, evidence gathered during the literature review and stakeholder workshop will be summarised to offer an evaluation of those initiatives with a remit of reducing marine litter which are applicable in the UK or Scotland. This includes a summary table of the current initiatives (Figure 9-1), the lead organisation, their scope and remit, the strengths of the individual initiative and suggestions for improvements. The discussion section further explores the strengths and benefits of the initiatives as well as their limitations, with the overall aim of addressing their coordination within a Strategy and identifying ways in which Scotland can better learn from and coordinate with, the global movement in tackling marine litter.

Initiative	Lead/ Coordinating Organisation	Scale	Scope	Remit	Status and Funding Source	Key Strengths	Potential Improvements
Beach Clean Ups, Surveys and Campaigns
International Coastal Clean Up	Ocean Conservancy	International	Remove litter Identify sources Change the behaviours that lead to littering	Removal Survey Education	Charity: Membership, donations and corporate sponsorship	498,818 volunteers 108 countries 6430 sites Global snapshot on a single day Standardised approach and methodology Data collected since 1989 Data are fed in to the Marine Debris Index-the only country by country, item by item accounting of marine litter Flexibility to schedule the events over September and October to accommodate holidays, bad weather etc During the year, volunteer coordinators identify sites to be cleaned and recruit sponsors and volunteers for the day of the event ( MCS in UK) Cost effective monitoring as reliant on volunteers	Expand the focus beyond the USA Broaden out the data collection methodology beyond 42 items in 5 source groups Take terrestrial inputs that are not from the immediate coastal area into account in the source groups Increase the % of global population taking part Provide feedback to participants after the event, to increase ownership and aid their future participation
Marine Litter Monitoring Project	OSPAR	North East Atlantic	Sources and trends identified from OSPAR Contracting Parties	Survey		Region wide scope Based on a statistical analysis, using a standardized protocol during the pilot project period (2001-2006) Approach allows for comparison and overall assessment between reference beaches and countries Source categories in line with MCS Cost effective monitoring	Increase the time span. Project ran from 2000-06 Expand work beyond beaches only; to offer a wider picture of the total litter load Undertake further surveys to give full assessment in NE Atlantic
Beachwatch Big Weekend	MCS	UK	Involves local individuals, groups and communities in caring for their coastal environment	Survey Clean	Charity: Membership and donations	Provides monitoring and trend data for marine litter on UK and regional level beaches Running since 1993 Has 17 years of data UK's biggest beach clean and litter survey Links with the International Coastal Clean Up (with over 90 countries participating) Data fed back to OSPAR Marine Litter Monitoring Project Cost effective monitoring Dedicated website Education and awareness raising for participants Reduces the likelihood of participants dropping litter Extensive national, regional and local media coverage of results each spring	Work to increase the geographical spread of cleans beyond the more urban/populated areas Expand work beyond beaches only; to offer a wider picture of the total litter load Work to increase the % of the population taking part Expand organiser feedback to participants after the event, to increase ownership and aid their future participation
Adopt-a-Beach	MCS	UK	Involves local individuals, groups and communities in caring for their coastal environment	Survey Clean	Charity: Membership and donations	Regular cleaning of adopted beaches (4/yr) Provides monitoring and trend data for marine litter on UK and regional level beaches Data spans 13 years Links with the International Coastal Clean Up (with over 90 countries participating) Data fed back to OSPAR Marine Litter Monitoring Project Cost effective monitoring Education and awareness raising for participants Reduces the likelihood of participants dropping litter Dedicated website/pages	Work to increase the geographical spread of cleans beyond the more urban/populated areas Expand work beyond beaches only or link to other initiatives; to offer a wider picture of the total litter load Increase % of the population taking part Provide feedback to participants after the event, to increase ownership and aid their future participation
Sickness and Sewage	Surfers Against Sewage	UK	Protection of the coast, via campaigning, volunteering, conservation, education and research, to tackle sewage discharges	Campaign/ pressure group	Not-for profit Membership, donations, merchandise sales, fund-raising events and sponsorship	Links to water sports governing bodies Sector specific knowledge High profile issues Dedicated website	Employ a project officer Increase knowledge exchange work to increase awareness amongst non members Expand current focus beyond the South coast and England
Seaside Award	KSB	UK	To recognise the best managed beaches; resort and rural	Award Survey	Charity	Raises attention to beach quality standards particularly issues with water quality, litter and provision of facilities The number of Awards has increased since the schemes were introduced The Awards represent a high standard, which beach management authorities now aspire to Increases public awareness of environmental management issues including litter Offers reassurance to visitors that the beach meets certain standards	Explore other awards and opportunities for those beaches that do not meet criteria i.e. numbers of users/day and not eligible for Awards, often many rural beaches currently cannot apply Further funding would increase staff and ensure all beaches are meeting standards
Blue Flag Award	KSB (on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education)	UK	Raise environmental awareness and increase good environmental practise amongst tourists, local communities and beach and marina operators	Award Survey	Charity	Raises attention to beach quality standards particularly issues with water quality, litter and provision of facilities The number of Awards has increased since the schemes were introduced The Awards represent a high standard, which beach management authorities now aspire to Increases public awareness of environmental management issues including litter Offers reassurance to visitors that the beach meets certain standards	Explore other awards and opportunities for those beaches that do not meet criteria i.e. numbers of users/day and not eligible for Awards, often many rural beaches currently cannot apply Further funding would increase staff and ensure all beaches are meeting standards
National Spring Clean	Keep Scotland Beautiful	Scotland	Annual clean up	Clean	Charity. Initiative is supported by Greggs (bakers) and EAE (marketing specialist)	Scotland's biggest annual clean up 83, 668 volunteers took part in 2010 (1.6% of the Scottish population) 1,041 clean ups Two month period in which to take part Fosters community spirit Incentive for cleaners not to drop litter Dedicated website Can join an event or organise your own Clear information for participants and organisers Free clean up kits available	Increase % of the population taking part through wider publicity and advertising in more 'public' media Provide feedback about the results in an individual's area to participants after the event, to increase ownership and aid their future participation
Coastal Litter Campaign	Forth Estuary Forum	Local-Forth Estuary	Develop a community awareness-raising programme to reduce marine litter in the Firth of Forth .	Clean Education Prevent at source	Campaign funded by Fife Environment Trust, BOC Foundation, Edinburgh Environment Partnership	Linked to existing initiatives including the Bag It and Bin It campaign, Blue Flag, and the MCS Adopt-a-Beach campaign Monitor and evaluate the changing trends for marine litter Develop individual programmes of action to tackle the litter at source Involves local people and schools Dedicated web pages and reporting	Expand the time span of the project (initially ran for a 3 year duration (2001-2004)) Increase % of the population taking part through wider publicity and advertising in more 'public' media
Da Voar Redd Up (The Spring Clean Up)	Shetland Amenity Trust	Shetland	Annual clean up after the winter storms and before the summer tourist season	Clean	Charitable Trust	15% of the population takes part, and do so year on year Running since 1988 Press releases Personalised registration cards foster ownership Clean up packs and litter collection easily organised Packs are personalised and tailored to the needs of that specific group Volunteers are written to thank them and given a summary of the clean Familiar and local slogan 'Dunna Chuck Bruck' and logos used Flexibility over clean up time and dates Small financial reward for participating community groups Organisers are familiar to participants Local dialect is used to foster ownership	Increase and improve the recording for monitoring waste types and levels to ascertain trends over time and to help reduce litter at source
Education
Don't Let Go	MCS	UK	Stop balloon releases	Education	Charity Membership and donations	Many local authorities have banned releases on their land Raises awareness to public, companies and groups of the impacts of releases Web page allows members of the public to report releases Offer alternatives to releases	Increase publicity to include more 'public' media sources
No Butts on the Beach	MCS	UK	Highlight the increasing numbers of cigarette ends found on beaches	Education	Charity Membership and donations	Gives information on the impacts of cigarette litter and numbers of butts found during cleans Offers ways you can reduce your impact	Increase publicity to include more 'public' media sources
Go Plastic Bag Free	MCS	UK	To reduce plastics bags on beaches via plastic bag free communities	Education	Charity: Membership and donations	A comprehensive information pack (pdf) to make it easy to go plastic bag free has been written and is available online. The pack contains extensive information on the impacts of plastics bags and how to go plastic bag free in your community	Reduce file size of the online guide (currently c. 20MB) as it may put off readers due to download time. This is true in the smaller rural communities who are more likely to go plastic bag free but where connection speed is often slower
Bag It & Bin It	Water UK	UK	Prevent SRD Encourage people to bag and bin disposable products Target blockages in the network and the costs to water companies and customers	Education	Membership group Funded directly by its members	Logos are widely seen in public toilets to increase awareness Involves UK water and wastewater service suppliers across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland	Campaign was most proactive at its launch; re-launch with ongoing information materials online and hardcopies Produce and circulate further promotional materials to increase awareness of the issue and meet the overall aims of the campaign
Think Before You Flush	Scottish Water	Scotland	Raise public awareness of the issues associated with flushing sanitary waste	Education	Publicly Owned Company	The campaign incorporated advertising, leaflets, local groups and events, beach cleans and school visits	Re-launch campaign or work with existing campaigns to raise awareness i.e. Bag it & Bin It
Beaches and Marine Litter	The GRAB Trust	Local-Argyll & Bute	Raise awareness of the impacts of marine litter	Education	Charity	Trust provide advice and support to community groups A range of marine litter educationworkshops and activities in local schools Attend and organise events to speak to people directly Use a forum to develop a shared ownership and keep people informed Organise beach clean events	Secure further funding to expand the remit and geographical scope of the project as part of a coordinated approach to targeting marine litter
The Green Blue	British Marine Federation and Royal Yachting Association	UK	Help water users and businesses reduce their impact on coastal and inland waters	Education	Funded by British Marine Federation, Royal Yachting Association, The Crown Estate and SNH	Provide information to users on environmental impacts of water sports and mitigation measures Promotes sustainable boating Encourages the design and production of innovative environmentally friendly products, facilities and processes within the recreational marine industry Raises awareness and appreciation of coastal and inland water environments	One staff member to cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Island. Further funding and/or project expansion would allow for further staff members to cover this area and become more of a recognised figure within their local area
Marine Litter Removal
Fishing for Litter	KIMO	Scottish Waters	Reduce marine litter by involving a key stakeholder; the fishing industry.	Removal Education	Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation	Involves key stakeholder Is one of the few initiatives to tackle litter in the marine environment	Ensure wide spread coverage across the fishing fleet and gears
Research
Global Initiative on Marine Litter	UNEP	International	Establish pilot activities in badly affected regions Global platform for partnerships, co-operation and co-ordination of activities for marine litter management	Research	95% Voluntary support	Production of guidelines on source reduction activities and polices	UK to coordinate with UNEP and relevant Contracting Parties to prepare an Action Plan for North East Atlantic Scotland to lead this process to better coordinate with the global movement and highlight their position
Marine Debris Programme	NOAA	International	To support international effort on preventing, and reducing marine litter	Research Coordination Education Grants Clean	Funded via NOAA	Wide range of initiatives from research and conferences to source specific activities Links to a number of other initiatives through its Partners	Expand main focus beyond USA and Pacific region

Figure 9 ‑ 1 Current Marine Litter Initiatives operating in Scotland, across differing scales

Figure 9-1 identifies a number of marine litter initiatives relevant to the UK and Scotland across varying scales and remits from surveying and monitoring, cleaning, research and education. These have all shown to have a number of key strengths and work well to connect with participants and in engaging local people in environmental issues. Some of the initiatives also offer awards for example Seaside and Blue Flag Awards, which set criteria for participating beaches and is a standard many beach management authorities now aspire to.

9.2 Participation

The initiatives aimed at cleaning, both coastal and marine, generally rely on volunteers (public and fishers)to undertake the work, often (but not in all cases) with paid staff members as campaign coordinators. For the coordinators, the cleans can be time consuming, but they do act as effective monitoring and removal mechanisms and many of the more coordinated cleans (i.e. MCS over one off community events) have both of these key areas within their remit. The Strategy should consider whether such an extensive use of and reliance on, volunteers is the most effective way to tackle the marine litter issue. The use of volunteers for beach cleaning clearly allows for a large data set to be collated and extensive monitoring to be undertaken, with minimal equipment and experience. It is well recognised volunteering is an effective means of drawing attention to the issue at hand and engaging members of the public in environmental management yet it may not be a suitable approach for MSFD compliance for example.

As with the majority of the initiatives included in the summary table, only a small percentage of the population take part in the events. It is not known whether this is due to lack of publicity (or lack of publicity in the right places), because it is not perceived as an issue by the public, or not one that should be tackled by the general public through volunteering. The initiatives with an International focus, such as the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean Up does indeed have a large geographical coverage (Figure 9-2) but questions need to be raised over the extent of these cleans. This particular initiative does offer a global snap shot of the issue but there may be countries that do not take part or areas within participating countries which have less of a focus and could therefore not be presenting a true picture.

Figure 9 ‑ 2 Participating (darker blue) and non participating countries (light blue) in the International Coastal Clean Up 2010 (Ocean Conservancy, 2010)

9.3 Distribution of Cleans

The most easily accessible areas for studying, cleaning and removing marine litter are beaches. In addition due the increased visibility of beached litter and the more obvious direct impact on society, greater media and public attention are given to these areas, rather than litter suspended in the water column, circulating in coastal waters and on the sea bed. Therefore comprehensive datasets for these areas are limited. Consequently the Strategy may be best placed to coordinate existing initiatives concentrating on beaches and focus its efforts and resources on the aspects which currently receive less attention.

From a review of the initiatives, it is clear most of those with a cleaning remit focus their efforts towards the popular urban beaches and not so much on those in more remote areas (Figure 9-3), which is pertinent for much of Scotland. This is partly due to population demographics and distribution but also to resourcing; an area akin to Aberdeen has staff members from various organisations to drive and organise clean up events, where as areas such as the Highlands have their resources spread over a much larger area and are unlikely to have this in the more remote and smaller settlements.

Figure 9 ‑ 3 Distribution of the MCS Beachwatch 2010 cleans across Scotland (data courtesy of MCS), against population distribution (urban areas, red; small towns, light green; remote, dark green)

9.4 Methodologies

Despite the establishment of beach study sites and the standardised approach by MCS, the spatial and temporal irregularity of surveys and differing methodologies (especially in the case of the community organised events) including different surveyors (volunteers) has in some cases led to sparse datasets spanning short time frames (Barnes et al., 2009). Often, this means the results are not comparable and cannot be used to provide a full and comprehensive assessment of an area. Internationally there is considerable variation in the methodology between regions and investigators, usually of voluntary nature. The Strategy may wish to develop and advocate the use of a standardised methodology such as that employed by MCS, to allow for greater compatibility between existing survey methods, the identification of a baseline and any trends and to ensure the efficient use of limited resources.

In addition, there are a number of specific problems and limitations for current beach cleaning and survey techniques and initiatives:

• Surveys typically only provide data on coarse trends due to irregular spatial and temporal frequency of surveys;
• only selected beaches, often once a year
• the same beaches are not surveyed every year, making direct site comparisons difficult
• Some area have sparse datasets due to spatial infrequency of surveys;
• Up to 40% of litter items remain un-sourced each year, either because they are too small, weathered, or could have come from multiple sources (Defra, 2005a; MCS, 2009);

• Methodological problems include definitions of public sources;
• Lack of distinction in land sources (riverine, wind blown, outflows, beach users), all of which require different preventative techniques;
• Due to the voluntary nature of the surveys, identification skills of marine litter may vary between volunteers, dependant on their experience and knowledge;
• There is a lack of publicity, in the right places and media and to the appropriate audience;
• Lack of staffing and resourcing (including financial) for the lead or coordinating organisations

One initiative that overcomes a number of the points raised here is the Da Voar Redd Up (The Spring Clean Up), Shetland. It offers a positive example of what can be achieved with regards to participation rates, ownership, publicity and feedback but other existing initiatives would require significant additional resources to allow them to be personalised and tailored to local areas and cultures to the same extent.

Da Voar Redd Up

Da Voar Redd Up is an annual clean up of Shetland's beaches and roadsides after the winter storms to clean the islands for the tourist season, wildlife and the residents. The cleanups are undertaken by local residents on a voluntary basis and, from a population of 26,000, the event attracts around 3,500 volunteers (15% of the population).

Da Voar Redd Up is organised by the Shetland Amenity Trust, a charitable trust who receives its income from the local authority, grants and its own profit making activities. The Redd Up is one of a number of initiatives lead by the Trust.

There are a number of factors that appear to contribute to the success of Da Voar Redd Up:

• The organisers are familiar and respected in their communities
• Language - "Da Voar Redd Up" means The Spring Clean Up. Use of the local dialect encourages a sense of ownership.
• Recognised images - The Dunna Chuck Bruck slogan is widely used. The use of logos around the Island and for the event gives it an identity and continuity year on year.
• Volunteers are encouraged at a school age and often continue into adulthood Strong feeling of community spirit and pride
• Incentives - Up to £50 is given to community groups completing clean ups
• Personalised - Previous volunteers are written to before the clean to ascertain if they are taking part this year, provided with the equipment they need and contacted again after the event to thank them for their efforts; all of which is done in a ersonalized way to give a sense of ownership and involvement
• Flexibility - Volunteers have the opportunity to clean where they like and when.

9.5 They are provided with the opportunities and resources to help them. Knowledge Gaps

As identified in Chapter 6, a number of knowledge gaps exist. To provide a true assessment of the marine litter issue in Scotland, its extent and impacts, these gaps need to be addressed, yet current initiatives may not be best placed to deal with them due to their remit and scope. These include:

• source and environmental impacts of micro plastics;
• bio-transfer and bio-accumulation of pollutants, particularly associated chemicals from plastics;
• impacts of marine litter on lower trophic levels;
• impacts of marine litter on ecosystems and their services
• deep sea accumulation and consequences (Scottish shelf waters and beyond)
• management practices
• including the disturbance from mechanical beach cleaning and where best to use (or not) these techniques and comparing the risks with accumulating in-situ

• illegal sources
• some sources suggest that plastic waste is deliberately being shredded into fragments and discarded at sea (Barnes et al., 2009)

9.6 Benthic Litter

To tackle the issue of non beached marine litter, there are few initiatives, of which KIMO's Fishing for Litter is one. For this scheme, harbour and fishers involvement did increase over the 2005-2008 period; totalling 165 vessels ( KIMO, 2008). However as Fishing for Litter was not designed to be a monitoring tool (its main focus being awareness raising and removal of litter, with monitoring as an additional output) it does not provide the quality or quantity of data required for a monitoring programme. As such, long-term trends in the distribution and accumulation of benthic/suspended litter are difficult to distinguish.

Specific limitations with this initiative include:

• Limited use of results;
• Significant time and effort involved in engaging with fishing industry;
• Communication problems with fishers;
• Unsuitable provision of equipment- smaller bags for smaller vessels
• Only fished areas are cleaned ( KIMO, 2008).

There was an also an observed reduction in the participation of vessels in Stornoway and two main issues were identified as the cause of this ( KIMO, 2008). The original bags provided were considered too big for smaller vessels and there were operational difficulties regarding waste disposal between the harbour and the fishers. Bags were replaced for a smaller size, enabling quicker emptying thus preventing decomposition of the contents whilst on board the vessels. Aside from routine litter monitoring trawls by Marine Scotland Science vessels RV Scotia and RV Alba na Mara, Fishing for Litter is the principal mechanism for monitoring and retrieving benthic litter. The Strategy may wish to expand the resources directed to this and look at ways to incentivise fishers to participate to ensure continued efforts.

9.7 Baseline Data

To establish extensive and reliable baseline data for long-term management strategies, existing methodological problems need to be resolved, coupled with in-situ removal. Baseline data of marine litter in Scotland is currently limited due to a number of factors, including coordination and implementation of schemes and overall financial investment (most work on a voluntary basis). The Strategy needs to overcome these, along with those noted above including the lack of publicity and engagement with the wider public and knowledge gaps in such a way that ensures the efficient use of limited resources. Consideration needs to be given to the extensive reliance on volunteers in helping to tackle the marine litter issue, monitoring and compliance with MSFD objectives.

9.8 Coordination

Each of the initiatives offers something unique and reaches out to varying sectors of society across different geographical areas and scales. As such, there appears to be little benefit in eliminating any of the initiatives highlighted but benefits may exist in their integration and improved coordination, incorporating overarching aims, standardised methodologies and joint publicity and marketing campaigns where this is deemed appropriate and beneficial. The Strategy may wish to consider the introduction of a coordinating body to lead Scotland's approach in tackling marine litter. Furthermore, this would provide a focus within Scotland and single point of contact with a remit to coordinate with and better learn from the global movement.