Number of waste items found along coastlines in Europe 2022, by type
During the International Coastal Cleanup day in September 2022, thousands of people across Europe volunteered to collect waste from coastlines. The most commonly found waste items were cigarette butts, with roughly 226,000 units collected. Meanwhile, fishing related debris – including lines, nets, traps and rope – accounted for an additional 25,000 items collected. The European country with the most waste items found along coastlines was Ireland.
