The Great British Beach Clean 2023 results are in!

The Marine Conservation Society have analysed the data and can now reveal just how much litter was picked up during this year’s event.

Despite the challenging weather, 428 beach cleans took place over the 10-day period in September, with 5,416 volunteers turning up to help clean up our coastline.

The Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team organised three surveys/cleans – two for registered volunteers at Kessingland and Havergate Island, and a corporate survey/clean at Bawdsey Point for UK Power Networks and Royal Society of Chemistry members.

Across the three events, 48 people attended. In addition, the Coast & Heaths team supported five other events by loaning out equipment. In total there were 11 events taking place within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty involving almost 200 people.

Nationwide, a total of 129,391 pieces of litter were collected, filling 1,426 litter bags. This weighed in at 7,476 kgs of litter – the same weight as an elephant! 40 miles of beach were cleaned – the distance it would take to walk from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

For more information or any questions, please contact Countryside Projects Officer, Neil Lister, at [email protected]. You can find out more about our Beachwatch events on our website.