Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • RESEARCH ARTICLE: An Unexpected Consequence of Plastic Litter Clean-Up on Beaches: Too Much Sand Might Be Removed

  • Corrado Battisti, Gianluca Poeta, Loris Pietrelli, Alicia T.R. Acosta
  • Journal:
    Environmental Practice / Volume 18 / Issue 4 / December 2016
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    24 October 2016, pp. 242-246
    Print publication:
    December 2016

  • We removed plastic meso- and macro-litter (PML) during a beach clean-up practice on a protected Mediterranean sandy beach in central Italy from the high tide line to a berm half-way up the beach and from the berm to a sand dune the rest of the way up the beach. Plastic fragments, cotton buds, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) fragments were the most common categories constituting about 90% of total abundance. We separated sand from PML and found that the weight of the sand was about 14% of the total weight removed. Although our data may be affected by local factors, they have general implications for management actions. Environmental practitioners who develop projects in beach cleaning should pay attention when removing PML since a significant amount of sand could be unintentionally removed resulting in unnecessary material in landfills or other disposal, and over time potentially could significantly affect sandy beaches.

    Environmental Practice 18: 242–246 (2016)