The beach cleaners in “In the Same Boat” have been cleaning the Norwegian coast since 2017. Last year, many places were almost completely cleared. Therefore, it was a big surprise when the cleaners returned this year. There was actually more rubbish than ever. Høgseth describes the coast a bit like a sieve that sifts the rubbish out of the sea. – If there hadn’t been so much weather this winter, this rubbish wouldn’t have come in. Photo: In the same boat They operate systematic and professional beach cleaning. This way they get accurate data on how much litter there is along the coast over time. Some places stand out with more rubbish than others: the first time the large islands on the outer coast of Nordland were systematically cleaned, up to 250 kilos of plastic litter per kilometer was found. But the challenges persist. In some places, the beach cleaners have now found four times more plastic than when the area was cleaned last year. At Vega, they found 160 kilos of rubbish per kilometer of beach zone in 2023. This year they cleared the same zone for 795 kilos. – The same applies from the Mørekysten to the North Cape, says Rolf-Ørjan Høgset in In The Same Boat. Why is there more garbage now? The beach rowers in In The Same Boat have a theory. – We have known for several years that there is a lot of rubbish and debris in the sea. This winter there have been two big storms one after the other. Then the rubbish that is far out there will come towards land, says Høgset. Many of the beach cleaners are involved in the Tidy in Tide programme, commissioned by Handelens Miljøfond. They get money from the plastic bags that are sold in Norway. Photo: Rolf-Ørjan Høgset / In the same boat But more litter on the beaches is not only negative. Høgset says that this time the rubbish is on top of the vegetation along the beaches. – In that sense, it is easier to clean now than the first time we cleaned. It is not possible to see it in any other way, if not you just give up. In addition, he believes that the littered beaches may indicate that the Norwegian coast now has a cleaner sea. He partially supports the professionals. – The winter storms do not clean up Both senior researcher Bjørn Einar Grøsvik and oceanographer Jon Albertsen at the Institute of Marine Research believe that the large amount of rubbish comes from extreme weather. – I think that climate change, with more extreme weather, contributes to more rubbish being blown into the sea or transported to the sea due to increased rainfall and silt. That could be an explanation for the fact that more rubbish also ends up along the coast, says Grøsvik. It is easy for the beach cleaners to remove the new rubbish that has come in with the winter storms. Now the rubbish is lying on top of the vegetation. Photo: Rolf-Ørjan Høgset / In the same boat But whether this results in a cleaner sea, the researchers are less certain. – It is probably not the case that winter storms “clean up” the waste in the sea. Bad weather will often spread the waste around more, so that it either sinks down, or is washed away from the main currents and then possibly beached, says Albertsen. In any case, they believe that beach cleaning is an important measure for the sea and beach zones. Requests more support from the state The annual item in the state budget for measures against marine litter has been reduced from 80 million to 30 million since 2021. The beach cleaners say it is urgent to clean up the beaches. It is both to protect birds and animals, and to ensure that the plastic does not blow out to sea again. Photo: Røf-Ørjan Høset / In the same boat – It’s strange that they are reducing their efforts to clean up the seas and beaches when there is more and more research about how dangerous rubbish and plastic are for us, says Høgset. Head of marine litter in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Håkon Arctander, however, believes that Norway focuses on, and spends a lot of money on, marine litter. – Norway invests significant resources in strengthening knowledge about the dangers of microplastics. Norway contributed to significant efforts for clean-up through Nordic and international cooperation. Arctander in the Norwegian Environment Agency says Norway, as one of the leaders of the global plastic negotiations, wants to ban a number of health and environmentally hazardous chemicals found in plastics. Among other things, they work closely with China to reduce plastic in the sea. Photo: Rolf-Ørjan Høgset / In The Same Boat State Secretary Kjersti Bjørnstad in the Ministry of Climate and Environment does not agree with the criticism either. – Never before has so much money been spent on cleaning up Norwegian beaches as now. It is true that the allowance for marine littering has been reduced in the state budget, but the number of kroner that is used for beach cleaning in Norway is greater than ever, she wrote in an e-mail to news. Bjørnstad highlights several initiatives from the private sector that contribute to paying for various clean-up projects. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency answers this – Why don’t they invest more in cleaning up plastic when it turns out to be dangerous for us that there is a lot of it in the sea? Norway invests considerable resources in strengthening knowledge about the dangers of microplastics. The government’s focus on cleaning up marine litter is still strong. Norway contributed to significant efforts for clean-up through Nordic and international cooperation. At the same time, we must be aware that Handelen’s environmental fund has increased its investment in clean-up, this is happening in good dialogue with the Norwegian Environment Agency. – What are they doing to reduce the amount of plastic that can be turned into microplastics? As microplastics are spread over large distances with ocean currents, international cooperation is one of the most important measures to reduce the problem of plastic litter and microplastics. As one of the leaders of the global plastic negotiations, Norway wishes to ban a number of health and environmentally hazardous chemicals found in plastics. In addition, Norway has entered into cooperation agreements with China, which is the world’s largest producer of plastics. They also consume a fifth of the world’s plastic. In 2020, China produced 600 million tonnes of plastic, but only recycled 16 million tonnes. Therefore, China plays a decisive role if the world is to solve the problem of plastic pollution. Norway and China are now entering into a collaboration to strengthen efforts against such littering. Norway actively contributes to various international cooperation arenas both globally, in the context of the EU and regionally. Together with Rwanda, Norway forms a high-ambition coalition that works for an ambitious and effective global agreement against plastic pollution. We have started an extensive national monitoring program for microplastics, which will document the extent of microplastic pollution, and through EU and regional cooperation we are working on measures to stop the most important sources of plastic pollution. Nationally, we are also working with the follow-up of the national plastic strategy that came in 2021. - out to sea again. The extreme weather events of the past year have shown that there is a need to strengthen the prevention of littering in connection with such events, and to look at new measures for handling littering and pollution afterwards. The Norwegian Environment Agency is therefore working together with other governing authorities to map roles and responsibilities, and arrive at a recommendation on new tools and measures that will be sent to the Ministry of Climate and the Environment during the summer. – The beach cleaners are also looking for funds for research. What are you doing now to contribute to more research being done on rubbish in the sea? Since 2021, Norway has had a national monitoring program on microplastics which maps the extent of microplastics in air, water, sediment and in shellfish. In addition, we monitor the plastic content in seabird stomachs, and plastic waste on selected beaches in Norway including Svalbard. This year, monitoring will be extended to plastic waste on the seabed, and waste we find floating on the sea surface. The number of beaches that are monitored for the amount of plastic waste will increase. The national research institutes do a lot of research on plastics and microplastics in the environment, and the Norwegian Environment Agency contributes to reference groups for several research projects within this topic. – Are there solutions for this in the rest of Norway? There are solutions for people who clean up marine litter and wish to hand in rubbish. They can check sortere.no or ryddenorge.no to find out where you can hand in marine waste for free. Volunteers can apply for reimbursement for expenses they incur in cleaning and delivering marine litter through the Reimbursement Scheme. Hope more people will be motivated to clean up. Many of the beach cleaners are organized in the Ridd i Tide programme. It is financed by Handeles miljøfond. The money comes from the plastic bags we buy. According to the chairman of In the Same Boat, they now have to intensify their clean-up efforts to get rid of the rubbish before it blows out to sea again. They hope that the amount of rubbish that is now lying on Norwegian beaches will motivate more people to help clean it up. – The job just has to be done. The fact that so much is coming in now means that we just have to keep cleaning. Much that flows around will continue to flow in in the years to come, says Høgset. How do condoms, shoe soles and ketchup bottles actually end up on the beach? Line goes underwater and underground to find answers. Published 19.06.2024, at 17.14
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In the same Boat has collected rubbish in the beach zone since 2017 – Storms this winter have led to more rubbish – news Nordland
