2015 Beach Sweeps Data Released

Cindy Zipf, COZ Executive Director
Ken Mosca, Public Affairs Manager for Atlantic City Electric
Catie Tobin, COA Marince Science Education Manager
Vince Maione, Atlantic City Electric Region President

COA released the 2015 Beach Sweeps Report highlighting the twelve most commonly collected items (“The Dirty Dozen”) along with the most outrageous finds (“The Roster of the Ridiculous”) and the breakdown of 332,033 pieces of marine debris collected by 6,375 volunteers last year.

The data creates a legacy of information that is used to fight for better anti-litter programs and educate people about the harms caused by marine debris to the economy and wildlife. The spring event coincides with Earth Month to provide citizens with an educational, hands-on, meaningful, rewarding activity to make a real difference.

In 2015, volunteers collected, tallied and removed over 332,003 pieces of debris from New Jersey’s shoreline during COA’s 30th Annual Beach Sweeps. The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics. Plastic, including foam, represents 70.78% of the total waste found. The evidence is clear: disposable plastic items continue to litter beaches, threaten marine life, and impact water quality. Of the 260,624 plastic items collected, 70.6% were single use.