RT journal article
T1 Seasonal comparison of beach litter on Mediterranean coastal sites (Alicante, SE Spain)
A1 Asensio-Montesinos, Francisco
A1 Anfuso Melfi, Giorgio
A1 Randerson, Peter
A1 Williams, Allan Tomas
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
K1 Marine litter
K1 Plastic pollution
K1 Cigarette butts
K1 Tourism
K1 Beach Costa Blanca
AB Presence of beach litter was assessed during spring and summer seasons 2018, at 56 sites along the coast of Alicante Province (SE Spain). Selected sites covered “remote” (9), “rural” (10) “village” (17) and “urban” (20) bathing areas. In an area of 201,700m2, a total of 10,101 litter items (Avg: 0.062 items m-2) was counted inspring, and 20,857 (Avg: 0.116 items m−2) in summer. The most significant seasonal evolution was observed in the cigarette butt, group which increased from 4607 to 12843 units. Plastic represented the dominant material in both seasons (82.6 and 83.5% respectively). Litter items increased greatly during the summer season despite the increasing frequency of cleaning operations and were essentially related to beach users activities. Secondarily,beach litter was related to wastewater discharges and fishing activities. Beach litter management along investigatedsites must be based on plans to reduce litter sources. For that, it is necessary to consider beach typology along with the seasonal influx of visitors to define the most appropriate management actions, not forgetting the implementation of environmental education, essential in schools and media.
PB Elsevier
SN 0964-5691
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30836
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30836
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 14-nov-2026