NI's First Litter Strategy Announced

The first ever strategy to tackle levels of marine litter in Northern Ireland has been launched.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood announced the publication of the strategy today.

The new marine litter strategy will seek to reduce the amount of litter around Northern Ireland's coastline through education and awareness campaigns.

The majority of litter found on Northern Ireland’s beaches is made up of plastics and includes plastic bottles, food wrappers, carrier bags, cotton buds and sanitary products and fishing debris which have been dropped on land and at sea.

The move follows the dumping of "lorry loads" of litter during a recent spate of good weather across Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the Northern Ireland Marine Litter Strategy, Minister Attwood said: "Northern Ireland is leading the way in these islands by being first to develop a strategy to address the problem of litter on our coasts.

"We need to change mindsets here. Years ago people 'had a drink for the road' before driving. A year ago people always asked for a carrier bag when shopping which often ended up littering our landscapes. So habits can change. More education is required. More volunteers will be encouraged.

"The strategy is a co-ordinated approach to reducing the levels of litter in the marine environment, through education, awareness-raising and volunteering programs, along with promoting a strong system of enforcement against those who just don’t get the message that litter is unacceptable."

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TidyNI, said: "This document cleverly balances actions to do something about the litter already out there with actions that will prevent more of this unsightly stuff being dropped. By recognising the need for society-wide behaviour change it is the strongest lead yet to creating a culture where people love where they live.

"The economic gains that will come from such a strategy will benefit us all through limiting rate rises, increasing tourist spend and attracting greater inward investment."

(IT/CD)