Overview
Rathlin Island's beach clean project has grown into an innovative recycling initiative that transforms marine plastic waste into a valuable manufacturing resource. Developed through Ulster University's Future Island-Island project, Beach Clean 2.0 tackles one of the biggest challenges facing coastal conservation: finding a practical use for the damaged and contaminated plastics collected during beach cleans.
The Challenge
Northern Ireland's coastline experiences nearly three times the UK average of marine litter, with monitoring recording an average of 625 pieces of litter per 100 metres on surveyed beaches. Yet removing the waste is only part of the challenge. Beach plastics are typically degraded, contaminated and made from mixed polymers, making them difficult to recycle using conventional processes. As a result, much of the material collected during beach cleans is ultimately sent to landfill or incineration, rather than re-entering the circular economy.
The Approach
Dr Susann Power from Ulster University developed a simple collection methodology focused on material quality at the point of collection to enable circular recycling pathways.
Key measures included:
- Introducing colour-coded collection bags to separate braided rope, rigid plastics, PP twine and fishing gear during beach cleans, creating cleaner, recycling-ready material streams.
- Working with community groups, public bodies and recycling partners to develop a collection process that integrated with existing beach clean operations while supporting local recycling capacity.
- Testing and refining the methodology through citizen science, with volunteers helping evaluate collection methods, logistics and usability to improve the effectiveness of circular harvesting.
The methodology is available as a downloadable toolkit.
