Beach Clean 2.0: tackling marine plastic pollution through transdisciplinary research and civic engagement

Marine plastic pollution and beach litter remain a complex obstacle – or ‘wicked problem’ (Rittel & Webber 1973) – to oceanic health and societal wellbeing; thus, requiring a transdisciplinary approach. This research combines the social-psychology theory of ‘Enviro-Leisure Activism’ (Power 2022), ‘Positive Design’ (Desmet & Pohlmeyer 2013) and polymer processing material science converting 36%-75% of beach plastics from objects of waste to materials of use.

This green transition activates environmental, community-oriented and leisure motives of coastal communities, and through design-led approaches equips people with knowledge, opportunity and capability to carry out a circular beach clean. Materials harvested through community-organised beach clean events may be transformed into materials of use; repurposing potential landfill waste, into circular beach plastics; creating 3D print filament, and mixed material plastics as feedstock for the polymer processing supply chain.

The Beach Clean 2.0 circular plastics method has been trialled three times in NI. In February 2024 a stock-take characterisation beach clean (n=28) on Rathlin Island assessed the composition of beach litter (29.6kg). In May 2024, Rathlin volunteers (n=21) trialled the Beach Clean 2.0 methodology, where compliance rates for litter (9.9kg) sorting were 82.7%-100% across three material categories. The methodology was scaled-up in September 2024 including 7 beach cleaning groups across the province (n=96) collecting 172.3kg of waste.

The research is aligned to SDG14 Life Below Water, specifically Target 14.1: Significantly reduce marine pollution, in particular from land-based activities. In relation to SDG3 Good Health and Well Being, the research supports Target 3.9: To reduce illness resulting from water (and other) pollution. Furthermore, research indicates that beach cleaning improves mental and physical wellbeing (Wyles et al. 2017). This research reimagines beach cleaning and circular waste management, combining community participation, material science and design. It has the potential to significantly transform ocean stewardship and encouraging infrastructure investments for circular beach litter processing.

References
Desmet, P. M., & Pohlmeyer, A. E. (2013). Positive design: An introduction to design for subjective well-being. International Journal of Design, 7(3), 5-19.

Power, S. (2022). Enjoying your beach and cleaning it too: a Grounded Theory Ethnography of enviro-leisure activism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(6), 1438-1457.

Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy sciences, 4(2), 155-169.

Wyles, K. J., Pahl, S., Holland, M., & Thompson, R. C. (2017). Can beach cleans do more than clean-up litter? Comparing beach cleans to other coastal activities. Environment and Behavior, 49(5), 509-535.

Acknowledgements
This research is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Green Transition Ecosystems programme; funder reference: AH/Y003780/1.