Race to clear plastic from Lincolnshire beaches

The breeding season for rare and vulnerable shorebirds is beginning and so far 16 tonnes of plastic pellets (nurdles) that may be mistaken for food have been gathered by East Lindsey District Council’s waste team.

This massive daily beach clean has been ongoing since the incident involving the Solong cargo vessel and the Stena Immaculate tanker last month – .but now getting rid of the threat to wildlife is even more crucial.

The beach clean of Friday to clear the stretch of beach north of Chapel St Leonards in the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park was organised by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

David Miller, warden at the Trust said he was delighted with the turnout.

"After the ship collision off Hull what we are finding are big pieces of nurdles – tiny little plastic nodules that are usually used to make plastic material – have burned together and are washing up on our beaches by huge amount,” he said.

"Between Skegness and Gibraltar Point, in the first couple of weeks, we picked up 11 tonnes.

"It looks horrible, is not very nice for visitors, but also these plastic pellets are really bad for wildlife.

"They look like little fish eggs, which is what the birds that fly along our coast feed on normally, so they will be mistaking these for food. This will not be good for them at all.”

Birds already affected include little terns, where at Gibraltar Point work to fence off the nesting area has been delayed due to the nurdles clearance.

“This is the only place left in Lincolnshire where little terns breed, and it is also favoured by ringed plovers," said the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

"It is now critical that the rare and vulnerable shorebirds that choose this site are left undisturbed.”

A spokesperson for ELDC said: “The cleaning of the beach is still a daily task following the tides each day but we are starting to see a small reduction in what is being washed up.

“The weight so far collected as of today is 15.96 tonnes.”