2020 Challenge is a new initiative

Plastics manufacturers and producers have announced a new initiative to tackle the problem of littering in the seas, as part of the Plastics 2020 Challenge.

Welcomed by the Marine Conservation Society, the UK’s leading charity dedicated to protecting seas, shores and wildlife, the campaign will call for a thorough investigation of the problem of beach and ocean litter.

Members of the public can go to the website Plastics2020Challenge website (see below) and have their say as to the problems that litter, particularly plastic litter, is causing in the marine environment, report the worst local problem areas, and suggest possible solutions.

The Marine Conservation Society has agreed to work with the Plastics 2020 Challenge in launching this debate. MCS volunteers carry out regular litter surveys all around the UK’s coast. During the annual Beachwatch Big Weekend last year nearly 60% of litter was plastic and over 380,000 items of litter were picked up on one weekend on 374 beaches.

A new survey commissioned for the Plastics 2020 Challenge and carried out by ComRes shows that almost two in five of the general public (some 38%) blame beachgoers and tourists for littering Britain’s seas and beaches, with only just over one in ten (13%) blaming the packaging industry – the same proportion as hold the sewage and waste companies responsible. Only 2% of people blame the fishing industry.

Peter Davis, from the Plastics 2020 Challenge, says: “Marine litter is a hugely complex, multi-faceted and increasingly serious challenge. However, the simple fact is that waste, whether plastic or other, does not belong in the sea. Litter is primarily a result of human neglect and poor waste management and if we all acted responsibly there would be no reason for the large majority of it to be there.

“Statements like this are easy to make but delivering on such a vision is much harder. That is why the search is on to find practical solutions to marine litter, for the benefit of future generations of mankind and sea life alike. It is a fundamental and urgent challenge for our global society.

“As an active and concerned member of this global community, the plastics industry is as keen as any to help resolve the issue of marine litter and start making progress towards a day when it is no longer an issue.”

More information: www.plastics2020challenge.com