One of Scotland’s most picturesque “hidden gem” beaches has seen almost 5,000lbs of plastic removed by volunteers.
A collection bin left at Balnakiel Beach at Durness in Sutherland saw the huge total of rubbish collected in its first year.
Marking the first anniversary, organisers PlasticAtBay said in total 2,200kgs (4850lbs) of plastic was gathered at the beach at mainland Britain’s most north westerly village, which is a popular pit-stop on the booming North Coast 500 road trip.
Geophsyicist Dr Julien Moreau, of PlasticAtBay, said: “People appreciate walking on a beach where they found ‘only’ a couple of pieces of plastic on their way,
“There is still much to take but we have removed a large part of the ‘stock’ from within the beach and the dune sand which won’t get permanently remobilised and broken down any more.
“In total Plastic@Bay has been involved in the removal of more than seven tons of plastic in one year in North West Scotland. It leaves you a bit dubious when you compare it to the nine tons per minute that enter the ocean but we are not the only ones doing something. we can make a difference.”
The total include rubbish which had even originated from Russia and Canada and a plastic Mexico World Cup lighter from 1986 which had been made in France.