Sweden cleared 43 tons of trash

On World Oceans Day, 18 646 people picked up trash around the country as part of the Kusträddarna (The Coastal Rescuers) campaign. A total of 43 tons of litter was picked up.

On some beaches, you can’t take a single step without stepping over hundreds of pieces of litter. Most of it is plastic. Kusträddarna are putting the spotlight on this huge environmental problem.

On June 8, World Oceans Day, Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Tidy) invited people to participate in a big joint litter picking day along coasts and beaches around the country. The Kusträddarna campaign was held for the seventh year in a row. This year, 43 tons of litter were picked up and prevented from damaging nature, according to a press release.

Participant statistics are also collected in a file, where you can see which municipality attracted the most participants per capita and how much litter has been picked up.

Facts about marine litter

Every hour, around five tubs of trash are washed up along the Bohus coast. It is one of the most littered coastal areas in Europe.

The Bohus coast receives more fishing and industry-related litter than the south and east coasts, where consumer-related litter is more common. On all beaches, unidentifiable pieces of plastic from larger objects that are disintegrating are common.

Marine litter is a global problem that knows no national boundaries. Scientists believe there are more than 75-199 million tons of plastic in our oceans, with 5-13 million tons of plastic added each year. And it’s growing fast: in sixty years, global plastic production has skyrocketed, and this is reflected in our oceans, where huge amounts accumulate.

However, 94% of all plastic in the oceans is invisible, lying on the seabed.