One of the most popular beaches on the north-east coast has become an environmental hazard following the storm surge at the weekend.
The coastline of Balmedie beach, which stretches north of Aberdeen, was found flooded in litter after strong winds and high tides washed out plastic and glass waste to the shores.
Mounds of litter has covered a large stretch from the Eigie Burn south towards Blackdog.
Aberdeenshire Council has launched an investigation into the incident, after 25-litre oil drums were also found among the waste.
Crawford Paris, marine litter officer at East Grampian Coastal Partnership (EGCP), said both the problem and the solution lay in education about environmental pollution.
He said: “Eighty-percent of the sea pollution originates from human activity on land, so educating people about littering, as well as more people being aware that any litter, no matter where it’s dropped, will eventually end up in the sea plays a huge part in stopping it at the source.
“Items such as glass or plastic can be very harmful to the wildlife in the area, and of course, certain items with unidentifiable liquid, whether it’s oil or something else, can obviously be hazardous for beach users such as dog walkers or just people out with families.”
The organisation has also installed equipment stations as part of their Turning The Plastic Tide initiative, which encourages people to collect pieces of litter when visiting the beach.
This is part of ongoing effort to reduce plastic use across the country.
Emma Leel, a spokesperson for Zero Waste Scotland, said: “There’s been a movement in terms of trying to understand and address these kind of problems from happening at a national level.
“We’ve been working to try and prevent materials from polluting the environment such as the legislation proposal for ‘single-use plastic directive’ that looks to restrict the sale or commercial supply of plastic cutlery, food containers, plastic lids, etc.
“A recent UK gov poll that was commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland also found that four fifths of the Scottish population are concerned about plastic pollution and the impact it has on the environment nation-wide.
“This highlights that the scale of the problem is a big concern to the public as well.”
