Record Numbers Released in COA’s 2018 Beach Sweeps Report

At a press conference overlooking the ocean on April 2, COA released the 2018 Beach Sweeps Report at Sandy Hook, highlighting the twelve most commonly collected items (“The Dirty Dozen”) along with the most outrageous finds (“The Roster of the Ridiculous”) and detailing the breakdown of the total 454,365 pieces of marine debris collected by a record 10,148 energetic volunteers.

2018 Record Numbers
As in previous years, the majority of the debris removed was single use plastic. The total amount of plastic waste removed was 81.77%, including foam. The evidence is clear: society’s epidemic use of disposable plastic items is increasing and adding litter to beaches, harm to marine life, and negative impacts to water quality. Plastics collect contaminants and break down into smaller and smaller bits, ultimately becoming microplastics. Overall, plastics are causing significant threats to the food chain.

2018 Highlights
The total amount of the Dirty Dozen is 72% of all trash removed, with persistent and harmful plastic dominating the list. This demonstrates the prevalence of plastic in our growing disposable society. In 2018, 93% of the Dirty Dozen debris collected was plastic.

Plastic caps/lids made #2 of the Dirty Dozen list in 2018 with 61,358 pieces collected. This figure is up from the 50,881 caps/lids collected in 2017. Straws/stirrers made #4 on the Dirty Dozen list and are also up from 31,167 collected in 2017 to 36,156 collected in 2018.

The report also details substantial increases or decreases (over 20%) as compared to 2017.  Significant increases were in plastic pieces, plastic bottles, diapers and glass pieces. Plastic pieces, the #1 item, increased from 56,201 in 2017 to 75,899 in 2018. Decreases were seen in cigarette filters, tires and metal fishing sinkers.

Balloons Higher than Ever
Balloons increased by 32.16% in 2018 when compared to 2017. In 2018, volunteers collected 5,470 balloons (mylar and rubber), exceeding the previous record of 4,159 balloons from 2011 by 31.52%.

In 2018 COA’s Beach Sweep data was used to help pass a statewide smoking ban on New Jersey’s beaches, urge Governor Murphy to veto and fix the statewide Bag Fee Bill, and support municipalities that passed local ordinances to ban single use products. To view the complete 2018 Beach Sweeps Report, visit CleanOceanAction.org.