Why beach cleans matter as new research gives scientists hope for

Beach cleans rapidly and dramatically reduce plastic fragments released into the environment, according to the first scientific evidence of its kind.

Experts from Norce, one of Norway‘s largest research organisations, found that within a year of volunteers removing bottles, bags and other large pieces of plastic from the shore of an island near Bergen, the amount of microplastic on land and in the water fell by 99.5%.

The scientists believe high levels of UV in sunlight and warm temperatures in shallow water lead to a far more rapid degradation of plastic fragments than had previously been thought possible.

They say it should motivate a global effort to clean up coasts around the world.

Gunhild Bodtker, senior researcher at Norce, told Sky News: “I was happily surprised because it means the clean-up has efficiently reduced the leakage of microplastic into the sea. And that is really good news.

“Clean up plastic on the shores, clean up all the plastic in the environment. It really makes a difference.”

Sky News joined volunteers on a mass clean of plastic washed up in Hardanger fjord in Western Norway, one of the largest in the world.

Its orientation means it acts as a giant funnel, collecting marine plastic swept by ocean currents from as far away as the UK, France and the Netherlands.

We found stretches of what the Norce scientists call “plastic soil” – a layer, up to 1m deep, of densely-packed fragments mixed with organic matter.

The microplastic pieces, which are less than 5mm in size, are likely to have been accumulating in the fjord for the last 50 years. They’re virtually impossible to remove.

Torgeir Naess, the mayor of Kvam municipality, was part of…