Plastic makes up 82% of litter on Guernsey beaches

Clean Earth Trust said 387 volunteers gave 462 volunteer hours across 26 beaches.

Plastic remained the most common material polluting Guernsey's shores, making up 82% of rubbish, a report found.

In it's annual marine litter report, the Clean Earth Trust said data covering the 2024 calendar year showed 15,373 items were removed from Guernsey's coastline, an average of 211 items per beach clean.

It added while the total number of items collected has declined year on year, the number of items found per volunteer hour is increasing, indicating that marine litter was a growing problem.

Andrew Munro said he believed publishing the data would "continue to raise public awareness... to reduce its adverse impact on our vulnerable marine ecosystem."

Clean Earth Trust said 387 volunteers gave 462 volunteer hours across 26 beaches during the year.

It added a trend it was concerned about was the high levels of cigarette butts which contained plastic in the form of cellulose and numerous toxins, which could be fatal to wildlife.

On average, 33 cigarette butts were collected per beach clean, it said.

"The work done by our wonderful volunteers to protect our marine environment is reflected in our 2024 report", said Paul Bugden, policy officer of the trust.

"Every beach clean conducted adds to the valuable data that can help to inform policy change on the island".