CONNECT

COLLECT
2022
REPORT
TABLE OF

Contents

1 A Message From Ocean 14 2021 Global Data at a Glance

Conservancy’s CEO
15 2021 Data Go the Distance
2 Connected Globally: An International
Plastic Pollution Agreement 16 Global Ocean Trash Index

3 Introducing the International 20 United States Ocean

Trash Trap Network Trash Index

4 Cleanup Connections: Updates 22 International ICC Coordinator

from the Global ICC Network Acknowledgements

6 #TeamSeas 24 United States ICC Coordinator

Acknowledgements
7 Small Grants, Big Changes
26 Cleanup Coordinators:
8 Making Policy Waves Leaders of the ICC

10 2021 International Coastal 28 2021 Supporting Partners

Cleanup Locations
30 ICC Team & Contributors
12 Plastic Pollution: Updates
from the Field
A MESSAGE FROM

Ocean Conservancy’s CEO

At its core, the International Coastal adversity through small group and of donors worldwide to raise over
Cleanup® (ICC) is about community. solo cleanups, for the first time in our 30 million dollars for ocean cleanup
nearly 40-year history, we did not host efforts. As part of this campaign, Ocean
Since its early beginnings on the shores
community cleanup events. Conservancy will clean up 15 million
of Texas in 1986, the ICC has mobilized
pounds of trash from beaches and the
millions of volunteers to collect For many of us, this made coming back
ocean in the next three years, and we
hundreds of thousands of pounds of for the 2021 ICC after a year apart a
are excited to work with the incredible
trash from beaches and waterways. uniquely joyful experience. I joined the
network of ICC partners and volunteers
We’ve worked together with partners ICC Santa Monica cleanup in California
to make this happen. We’re thrilled to
and volunteers to record each item where I was lucky enough to reconnect
see new people joining global cleanup
collected, create the world’s largest with friends and colleagues, many of
efforts, and we hope these new voices
database on marine debris, and help whom I hadn’t seen in years.
can also help call for a suite of actions
inform solutions across the world to the
Whether you were able to safely to tackle the global plastic pollution
ocean plastic problem.
participate in a community beach crisis. Cleanups are important, and yet
Personally, I cherish coming together cleanup; take part in a small group we must reduce plastic production at
with friends, family and colleagues for cleanup with family and friends in your the source to truly tackle this problem.
the ICC every September. With every neighborhood; or even create your own
As I look forward to this year’s cleanup
bit of plastic collected and recorded, using the Clean Swell app, you are a part
effort, I’m heartened by the ways this
I’m reminded of the global community of the global ICC community. In total,
community has shown up for each other
working, piece by piece, to make a over 318,000 volunteers came together
and for the ocean. To everyone who
difference for our ocean. Whether I’m to collect 5,595,330 pounds of trash.
makes the ICC possible—thank you, stay
participating on a faraway beach or in No matter how you joined the ICC last
safe, and see you in September.
my home state of Oregon, it is clear that year, Ocean Conservancy sees your
a love for our ocean unites us all. contribution, and we thank you. For our ocean,

The COVID-19 pandemic put the 2021 was also a year of new
importance of the ICC community connections for Ocean Conservancy. In
into a new light. While the incredible October, we announced our participation
network of ICC volunteers and in the viral #TeamSeas campaign,
partners continued in the face of which to date has engaged millions Janis Searles Jones

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 1

 CONNECTED GLOBALLY:

An International
Plastic Pollution
Agreement
Global environmental treaties and To have arrived at this point is no small governing the production, use, and
instruments aim to combat the planet’s feat. Many thought it would be difficult, recycling of plastic products in countries
most pressing concerns, from preventing if not outright impossible to meet the worldwide. Corporations that make, use,
climate change to protecting iconic needs of countries around the world in or manage plastic and its waste are likely
wildlife and fragile ecosystems. For a single text. There were many issues to be affected by this agreement as well.
years, those who work daily on the on the table such as whether any
Felipe Victoria, Ocean Conservancy’s
problem of marine debris and plastic agreement would be legally binding or
Senior Manager for International
pollution, whether through their career voluntary, or if it would address plastic
Plastics Policy, had a front row seat
or volunteerism at cleanups, have been production and design or be confined to the UNEA meeting. He stated, “We
calling for an international agreement to improving waste management recognize the importance of celebrating
to combat this issue at a global scale. and recycling. The agreement speaks this resolution; however, we also know
On March 2nd, 2022, a major step was volumes to the great work done by all that the real work is just beginning, and
taken towards achieving this goal, negotiators and the spirit of cooperation we look forward to supporting this effort
when the United Nations Environmental shown by all parties involved. over the next two years.” Fisher and recycler from
Buenaventura, Colombia
Assembly (UNEA) agreed on a resolution So what exactly is a “legally binding The private sector and other
under the name “End plastic pollution: instrument”? A legally binding instrument environmental stakeholders like Ocean Recycling center,
Towards an internationally legally binding Buenaventura, Colombia
is an enforceable agreement between Conservancy will have the opportunity to
instrument”. This historic resolution is countries. It is an important tool to participate as observers in the meetings
a triumph of international collaboration tackle a global challenge like plastic to develop, inform, and advise on sound
even amongst geopolitical turmoil. It is pollution. In this case, the instrument policies that should be considered in the
the first major step in addressing the under development can inform national agreement. The agreement is slated to
plastic pollution emergency. environmental laws and policies be finalized in late 2024.

2 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
INTRODUCING THE

International Trash
Trap Network

In 2021, Ocean Conservancy and the cleanups, the top large trash item trapping project, and a directory of
University of Toronto Trash Team (>3cm) collected from waterways the trash traps currently used around
launched the International Trash using trash traps was cigarette the world. We’re excited by how far
Trap Network (ITTN). Trash trapping butts. Comparably, tiny trash pieces the ITTN has come in its first year and
technologies are an important addition outnumbered any other type of we hope that as the network grows
to community cleanups, working debris by far. Across the network, the data collected will help us better
around the clock and helping increase over 150,000 pieces of tiny trash understand the issues related to marine
the amount of trash diverted from our (2mm–3cm) were collected, most debris and inform solutions to solve our
waterways. There are many successful of which were foam. These tiny plastic pollution problem.
trash trapping technologies, and the pieces of plastic weigh hardly
network aims to inspire new projects anything, but they can be easily
across the globe and link these local ingested by wildlife and are often
efforts by reporting data on the trash too small and too time consuming
that groups collect as part of the to collect by hand.
International Coastal Cleanup.
In addition to cleanup, the ITTN aims
In the network’s first year, 63 devices to use trash trapping projects as
joined our efforts from across the an opportunity to share knowledge,
United States and Canada. Seabins™ engage communities and inform
were the most popular trash trap upstream solutions. We have
throughout the network, used by developed free materials groups
many groups throughout the Great can use to identify trash hotspots
Lakes to clean up their local harbors in their local waterways, a checklist
Waste characterization
and marinas. Similar to community for setting up a successful trash from a trash trap in
Toronto Harbor

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 3

 CLEANUP CONNECTIONS: ACCRA, GHANA

Updates from the

Global ICC Network

Remarkable Data Collection in Ghana

In Ghana, the Smart Nature Freak Youth founder of the organization and ICC
Volunteer Foundation (SNFYVF) of coordinator for a decade, says, “As we
ACCRA, GHANA
Accra has taken data collection to the have been engaged in the ICC for years,
next level. This ICC partner never backs we are always learning, at every level
away from data collection, even at the of the cleanup, to find the best ways to
dirtiest coastlines volunteers tackle. handle challenges like data collection.”
Their solution involves training a brigade He adds that over the years the data
of data collection volunteers every year collection has extended beyond the
who become familiar with the ICC trash actual cleanup days, and schools, other
categories and work in shifts throughout community organizations, fisher people,
a cleanup, which leaders note can last ocean users and even some curious
six hours or more. Collected trash gets onlookers take part in the counting.
sorted by item and counted by hand
For this report, Ghana item totals were
or a bucket system. With a standard
removed from global ICC totals due
bucket size, they know how many plastic
to the outsized efforts by SNFYVF
bottle caps, for example, fill that bucket.
volunteers to diligently count all trash
From there, they can quickly multiply full
removed. Consequently, Ghana greatly
buckets to reach a total. It’s not perfect
outpaced the rest of the world’s
science but it works for the immense
item-count data with over 128 million
amount of debris that is collected and
individual items tallied, including
counted from Ghana’s beaches.
buckets of microplastics which
The results are outstanding. Volunteers through their methodologies, were
in Ghana count millions of debris items estimated at 31.9 million pieces. What
during each ICC season. Tyler Kobla, incredible work!

4 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
From the Beach A Cleanup for All: Sardinia
to City Hall Draws Oldest and Youngest
When it comes to halting plastic pollution, Ocean Volunteer at Single Event
Conservancy and International Coastal Cleanup
During the 2021 International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers
Coordinators know that the importance of playing
across the globe shared an excitement to reconnect.
the long game.
For some, this meant reconnecting with natural spaces
As their name implies, Fight Dirty Tybee knows a and cleaning up solo or in small groups. Others were
lot about perseverance. This ICC Partner on Tybee able to safely gather again, and events hosted by ICC
Island, Georgia (USA) has been battling cigarette Coordinators attracted volunteers of all walks of life. In
butt litter for years. After an initial proposed smoke- Sardinia, partner Clean Coast Sardinia noted that among
free beach ordinance was rejected in 2015, the their volunteers two were over 80 years apart in age. Pino,
organization and volunteers kept at it, conducting the oldest volunteer, is 85 and he cleaned alongside a little
year-round cleanups and methodically counting girl who at three years old, was their youngest participant.
every single cigarette butt and sharing these Not only are new volunteers motivated to take part, but
findings with city council. each year also sees new initiatives blossoming from the
once-a-year annual event. In Sardinia, a local science
When a new ordinance was proposed in early 2022,
teacher who had attended a past cleanup turned out in
Fight Dirty Tybee were was not only prepared with
2021 with a student-led group from her school, called
the numbers, but they also had a visual statement
‘CleanQ’, referring to the local town, Quartu Sant’Elena.
to make. After saving bucket upon bucket of
Participation in the ICC has sparked a year-round effort for
cigarette butts collected off their beaches, they
the community and that’s something that all of us, young
lined the walkway leading up to their city hall.
and old, can feel connected to.
This time the ordinance passed, making Tybee’s
beaches smoke and vape-free by June 2022.

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 5

 JAMAICA

On October 29, 2021, YouTube creators

MrBeast and Mark Rober launched
#TeamSeas, a global campaign to
raise $30 million to remove 30 million
pounds of plastic and trash from our
ocean, rivers and beaches. #TeamSeas
is the second wave of the largest
creator-led fundraising campaign to
ever hit the internet, #TeamTrees.
Building on the 35-year history of the
International Coastal Cleanup and the
impressive work of the Global Ghost
Gear Initiative®, Ocean Conservancy
is thrilled to be the official beaches
and ocean partner for the campaign.
Ocean Conservancy will be partnering
with ICC coordinators around the
world over the next two years to
focus cleanup projects on beaches
and ocean habitats most impacted by
plastic pollution. Since October 2021,
over 4 million pounds of plastics and
trash have already been removed from
beaches in 33 countries.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

6 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
SMALL GRANTS, DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

Big Changes

Ocean Conservancy’s Small PARTNER: Reef Check Malaysia Partner: Mariposa DR Foundation
Grants program was launched Location: Malaysia Location: Dominican Republic
in 2019 with a mission to Project Title: Upstream Solutions to Project Title:
provide dedicated support Marine Debris and Plastic Pollution Community Cleanup and Recycling:
to the International Coastal Project Description: Building with Ecobricks
Small remote islands of Malaysia Project Description:
Cleanup coordinators
face challenges such as lack of waste The young women of the Mariposa
implementing community-
collection infrastructure and expensive DR Foundation worked diligently
based activities around the
and complicated logistics to transport throughout 2021, collecting more EGYPT
globe. From education and
outreach to improving waste waste from island to mainland for than 2,000 pounds of trash in

collection and recycling, proper disposal. Reef Check Malaysia their local community. They then

ICC partners are uniquely completed the first study on current waste transformed this trash into Ecobricks,
positioned to advance durable, management practices on all inhabited bottles that are tightly packed with
locally-relevant solutions to the islands, and in consultation with federal, other plastic waste. The Ecobricks
marine debris crisis. state and regional governments, identified were used to build a pavilion for a
steps to improve systems, seek viable neighboring school. The Mariposa Partner: Youth Love Egypt Foundation
alternate technologies, and implement girls participated in every step of this Location: Egypt
financial mechanisms for funding waste project, including the planning and Project Title: Clean Shores Project
collection and transportation in perpetuity. Project Description:
building of the pavilion.
The Clean Shores Project brought
Their demonstration of leadership and together groups across the Mediterranean
care for the environment, educating Seas, the River Nile and the Red Sea for
community members and visitors large-scale cleanup events that improved
about the challenges of single-use the environmental health and awareness
plastics, is absolutely inspirational. of local community members.

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 7

 MAKING

Policy Waves

Landmark Legislation in California

Earlier this year, Ocean Conservancy’s packaging and foodware actually be
domestic plastics policy team helped recyclable or compostable, holding
champion the strongest plastics producers accountable for the cost of
legislation in the country across the managing their products and requiring
finish line in California—SB 54 or producers to pay for the much needed
the Plastic Pollution Prevention and improvements to California’s recycling
Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. and composting systems. By shifting
the financial responsibility of waste
This new law is a turning point in how
management to the producers through
we tackle our plastic pollution crisis extended producer responsibility, this
because for the first time it requires policy will set California on the path
that we make less plastic in the first towards a circular economy.
place—25% less over the next 10
years. Ocean Conservancy’s team, who This bill would also require plastic

helped negotiate and write this critical producers to provide significant

piece of legislation, estimate that this funding ($5 billion over 10 years)
to protect and restore California’s
requirement will lead to 23 million tons
lands, waters, and communities most
less single-use plastics in California
impacted by plastic pollution.
over the next 10 year—that’s equivalent
to the weight of 26 Golden Gate Bottom line—California’s new law will
Bridges! As part of this shift away from mean less plastic production, less
single-use plastics, this bill includes plastics in our communities, and less
the first reuse and refill requirements plastics in our ocean. Thank you,
in the country, meaning this bill would California for setting the example of
also support California’s ability to how to lead us out of our ocean plastic
recycle by requiring that all single-use pollution crisis!

8 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
 2021 ICC
U.S. National Cleaning from the WATERCRAFT
Parks Ban Water in Komodo CLEANUPS 5,232 429
PEOPLE MILES
Single-Use Plastics In Komodo, Indonesia, ICC

On World Ocean Day, the U.S. Department

coordinator Stefan Rafael has 72,498 691
created a small fleet of cleanup POUNDS KILOMETERS
of Interior announced an order to reduce
kayaks which he notes are
and eventually phase out the sale of
single-use plastics in national parks,
especially popular with youth, 32,884 32,478
who get to see the issue of KILOGRAMS TOTAL ITEMS
wildlife refuges, and other public lands by
plastic pollution from a different
2032. This is a monumental win for our
perspective when on the water.
ocean and natural wonders as well as
“With kayaks, we can reach remote
the animals and wildlife that depend on
islands easily and do cleanups
it. More than 10,000 Ocean Conservancy
in the shallow waters with lots of 2021 ICC
supporters contacted their representatives
coral reefs and mangrove forests UNDERWATER
to ask them to take action to keep our
CLEANUPS
1,473
where plastics get trapped.” As an
natural parks plastics-free.
educator, he notes that the major
PEOPLE
The majority of the more than 130 million lesson learned from a sea-based
pieces of trash collected from beaches
and waterways across the United
cleanup is that trash travels without
boundaries and the data collection
13,695
POUNDS
States over the 35-year history of Ocean he and his volunteers take
Conservancy’s International Coastal part in help trace those avenues 6,212
Cleanup are single-use plastic foodware back to sources, often on land, KILOGRAMS
items, like bottles, cutlery and food which will help targeted reduction
wrappers, many of which are currently and prevention plans in the future. 41
sold on public land including our national MILES
parks. The last thing we want to see while
exploring these majestic sites is plastic
66
KILOMETERS
pollution that can harm the incredible
wildlife we came there to see. Not only will
30,135
this policy help reduce single-use plastics TOTAL ITEMS
throughout our country, but it will also
show the more than 330 million visitors
to our national parks each year that it is
possible to have a trash-free future if we
work together.

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 9

 2021 INTERNATIONAL
COASTAL CLEANUP

Locations
Participating countries
shaded in dark blue.

CLEAN SWELL APP

USER, CALIFORNIA

CLEAN SWELL
APP USER, MALDIVES

10 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
 CLEAN SWELL APP
USER, SINGAPORE

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 11

 PLASTIC POLLUTION:

Updates from
the Field

ICC Data: More Than Just Numbers

The rich and robust data collected by used it to help answer social science
ICC volunteers each year serve as a and socioeconomic questions (e.g.,
platform from which countless scientific Aretoulaki et al. 2021, Hardesty et al.
research endeavors sprout. Not only 2021). Some provided a look at debris
does the science built upon ICC data over time, or combined it with other
help to expand our understanding of large datasets to answer key pollution
the plastic pollution problem; but often, questions (e.g., Kanhai et al. 2022;
findings from these studies also help Vysotskaya et al. 2021; Morales-Caselles
support the passage of plastic pollution et al. 2021), and others cited it as a way
abatement policies. At least 27 peer- to help devise and frame solutions (e.g.,
reviewed scientific papers using ICC data Royle et al. 2022; Alfonso et al. 2021;
were published in 2021, with authors Jorgensen et al. 2021).
hailing from 20 countries and represent
more than 50 organizations, including
NGOs, universities and government
agencies. Each of these studies used
ICC data in numerous, insightful
ways. Some cited it as rationale for
investigating and seeking solutions to
one or more particularly problematic
types of debris (e.g., Ambrose et al.
2021; Fauziah et al. 2021;), while others
NASSAU, BAHAMAS

12 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
ICC-derived cigarette butt data
were cited in numerous studies
published in 2021. One of
these studies found cigarette
butts degrade and generate
thousands of cellulose acetate
microplastics when they are
littered, posing a concern for
local wildlife (Belzagui et al.
2021). Another identified toxic
substances leaching from
cigarette butts, proving that
this type of litter is not only
an eyesore and a source of
microplastics, but it also poses
a concern due to its chemical
impacts (Akhbarizadeh et al.
2021). A third confirmed that
the presence of chemicals
extracted from smoked
cigarette butts impact the
health of aquatic organisms
(Oliva et al. 2021), and a fourth
presented a history of cigarette
filter inclusion in products and
how they likely impact human
health (Silva et al. 2021).

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 13

 2021 GLOBAL

Data at a Glance
Top 10 Items Collected
JAMAICA
1 6
Food Wrappers Grocery Bags
(candy, chips, etc.) (Plastic)
1,341,463 415,245 Topline Data
Volunteers 318,928
2 7 Pounds 5,595,330
Cigarette Butts Beverage Bottles Kilograms 2,537,996
1,134,292 (Glass) Miles 16,766
304,337 Kilometers 27,195
3
Beverage Bottles 8 Total Items Collected
9,760,227
(Plastic) Beverage Cans
849,321 267,189
4 9
Other Trash Straws, Stirrers
(Clean Swell) 260,395 Tiny Trash
613,972 < 2.5 cm in size
10
5 Cups, Plates Plastic Pieces 1,168,857
Bottle Caps (Plastic) Foam Pieces 221,132
(Plastic) 245,961 Glass Pieces 105,545
579,020

14 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
2021 DATA GO THE
PLASTIC BOTTLES = 849,321

Distance Enough plastic bottles were collected to

equal the height of

1,780 Artemis
1 moon voyage
rockets
GLASS BOTTLES =
304,337
The amount of glass beverage
bottles collected by volume would fill

two and half

18-wheeler
cargo trucks
CIGARETTE BUTTS =
1,134,292
The amount of cigarette butts
collected, laid end to end, would
stretch longer than the

length
of the
Panama TOTAL WEIGHT OF
DEBRIS COLLECTED =

Canal
5.59 MILLION POUNDS
Weight of trash removed equals that of

186 buses

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 15

GLOBAL OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED GLOBALLY

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Beverage Trash Bottle Grocery Beverage Cups,
Total Items (candy, Cigarette Bottles (Clean Caps Bags Bottles Beverage Straws, Plates
Location Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected chips, etc.) Butts (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) (Plastic) (Glass) Cans Stirrers (Plastic)
Algeria 2 60 27 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
American Samoa 82 347 158 1.0 1.7 4,728 259 547 522 50 493 216 296 622 78 197
Antigua and Barbuda 74 571 259 1.8 3.0 1,457 74 9 152 105 34 48 285 165 19 140
Argentina 4 2 1 0.1 0.1 103 3 — 1 — 93 4 — — — —
Aruba 40 130 59 0.1 0.1 388 — — — — — — — — — —
Australia 1,532 8,506 3,858 133.9 215.5 65,231 4,654 4,509 1,143 107 33 483 835 859 1,564 18
Azerbaijan 33 2 1 0.1 0.1 2 — — 2 — — — — — — —
Bangladesh 520 3,197 1,450 3.1 5.0 104,206 17,650 11,870 3,278 — 1,124 1,345 169 132 3,860 76
Belize 111 1,181 536 5.6 9.0 6,109 421 135 468 485 441 1,008 209 160 201 156
Bermuda 9 68 31 0.1 0.1 216 1 1 12 11 25 1 — — — —
Bonaire 6 8 4 0.1 0.1 5,305 36 4,614 — — 51 — 18 4 96 8
Brazil 1,709 12,703 5,762 47.5 76.5 39,113 2,639 7,056 2,190 938 2,096 2,335 1,540 526 912 1,363
British Virgin Islands 196 672 305 3.5 5.6 2,717 83 36 717 291 122 106 322 159 52 146
Bulgaria 3 20 9 0.3 0.5 140 10 — 12 15 — 19 8 8 2 13
Cambodia 6 8 4 0.1 0.1 185 16 6 17 30 5 26 — 13 — —
Cameroon 216 156,969 71,200 1.7 2.7 15 — 4 — — — — — — — —
Canada 13,822 29,617 13,434 985.9 1,586.6 328,284 28,984 88,513 9,559 567 22,816 13,001 5,986 14,036 9,160 6,728
Chile 4,691 217,115 98,482 87.8 141.2 221,414 7,598 82,269 6,257 23 8,544 4,199 5,441 7,877 2,002 2,150
China 10,319 55,402 25,130 144.8 233.1 31,588 372 6,243 2,752 63 2,142 2,134 439 225 381 18
Colombia 141 697 316 3.1 5.0 11,767 408 45 1,950 — 2,247 345 97 105 75 1,987
Costa Rica 16 93 42 0.9 1.5 208 14 2 54 1 31 3 7 6 2 7
Croatia 22 38 17 0.7 1.1 3,448 13 3,016 4 6 83 3 3 2 4 —
Cyprus 79 99 45 3.4 5.4 1,492 128 375 161 198 78 52 16 120 49 37
Czechia 2 2 1 0.1 0.1 11 2 — 2 — — — — 2 — —
Denmark 1 2 1 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
Dominican Republic 33 93 42 0.2 0.3 1,200 23 314 18 51 92 10 7 7 31 18
Ecuador 6,052 81,458 36,949 464.2 747.1 309,550 27,713 8,171 18,097 94 10,620 14,340 10,199 6,857 7,163 16,203
Egypt 11 28 13 0.1 0.1 489 192 88 14 17 1 35 1 4 40 3

16 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
 GLOBAL OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED GLOBALLY

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Beverage Trash Bottle Grocery Beverage Cups,
Total Items (candy, Cigarette Bottles (Clean Caps Bags Bottles Beverage Straws, Plates
Location Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected chips, etc.) Butts (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) (Plastic) (Glass) Cans Stirrers (Plastic)
El Salvador 2 1 0 0.3 0.5 33 2 — 7 — 7 4 — 2 — 6
Finland 2 2 1 0.0 0.1 48 13 3 1 11 — 4 — 5 — —
France 526 2,093 949 21.5 34.6 15,158 606 5,999 578 1,694 261 401 164 456 142 260
Germany 1,810 3,534 1,603 29.7 47.8 32,245 3,755 15,911 198 242 776 1,197 971 225 391 213
Ghana 1,487 141,292 64,088 2.3 3.7 128,013,609* 6,978,955* 3,173,620* 2,213,556* 601* 5,815,808* 163,922* 886* 1,090* 7,473,397* 5,423,026*
Greece 5,630 18,382 8,338 35.7 57.4 103,917 2,219 29,559 4,181 56 8,379 4,557 3,609 2,888 7,846 4,501
Guam 17 37 17 1.8 2.9 556 — — 49 49 124 5 5 33 1 —
Guatemala 15 7 3 3.7 5.9 197 15 6 29 9 57 8 2 1 10 11
Guyana 82 1,695 769 2.6 4.2 10,452 283 16 5,324 320 213 818 530 37 965
Hong Kong 17,705 283,051 128,390 82.4 132.7 6,237 499 211 550 208 310 402 64 80 123 56
Hungary 2 25 11 0.1 0.1 5 — — 2 — — — 1 — 2 —
Iceland 10 1,984 900 3.0 4.8 453 — — 5 — — 3 3 — 4 —
India 432 188 85 0.6 1.0 736 97 4 63 15 77 67 10 9 82 23
Indonesia 978 12,936 5,868 30.6 49.2 5,881 383 493 646 312 382 639 363 67 349 181
Iran 1 0 0 0.1 0.1 3 — 1 — — — — — — — —
Ireland 886 4,257 1,931 163.0 262.3 37,926 3,338 8,941 2,292 896 1,467 567 1,489 1,895 531 218
Israel 123 680 308 1.9 3.1 1,439 139 4 132 3 5 150 26 43 4 49
Italy 1,292 9,310 4,223 12.1 19.5 15,101 419 3,050 322 575 600 182 136 171 314 165
Jamaica 1,846 40,914 18,558 122.9 197.8 245,191 6,950 1,314 133,656 202 28,373 2,064 5,520 2,707 1,323 11,374
Japan 3,024 11,000 4,989 201.1 323.6 73,208 4,328 10,489 3,964 1,021 3,647 1,130 1,213 2,204 981 512
Kazakhstan 2 2 1 0.1 0.1 3 — — 2 1 — — — — — —
Kenya 2,807 18,029 8,178 37.0 59.6 80,555 9,270 494 10,865 1,864 4,875 1,796 1,502 763 3,537 12,308
Madagascar 170 192 87 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
Malaysia 999 13,385 6,071 20.0 32.2 47,161 2,509 2,314 9,951 3,563 2,828 2,768 533 455 1,251 674
Mauritius 210 1,565 710 4.4 7.0 8,139 824 697 601 — 626 145 153 710 57 430
Mexico 17,696 367,073 166,501 2,374.1 3,820.7 2,954,892 802,381 74,146 279,252 335,177 104,114 186,358 125,187 68,727 52,435 80,269
Mongolia 1 2 1 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
Mozambique 75 2,681 1,216 18.6 30.0 4,957 15 90 359 — 699 106 159 130 91 125

*Ghana’s itemized data from 2021 were excluded from the global summary to keep data comparable to past ICC years with respect to volunteer effort. See page 4. INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 17
GLOBAL OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED GLOBALLY

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Beverage Trash Bottle Grocery Beverage Cups,
Total Items (candy, Cigarette Bottles (Clean Caps Bags Bottles Beverage Straws, Plates
Location Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected chips, etc.) Butts (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) (Plastic) (Glass) Cans Stirrers (Plastic)
Nepal 1 2 1 0.1 0.1 20 1 1 2 — 2 1 2 1 — 1
Netherlands 189 408 185 32.4 52.1 6,309 418 2,061 267 675 70 178 85 379 166 160
New Zealand 4 8 4 0.1 0.1 40 6 — — 5 3 — 3 — — —
Nicaragua 306 2,826 1,282 4.4 7.0 22,683 785 226 7,140 437 7,718 1,431 212 82 742 520
Nigeria 102 1,429 648 2.2 3.6 8,576 188 130 956 — 1,182 199 187 331 263 326
Northern Mariana Islands 542 1,172 531 53.3 85.8 13,148 723 2,221 566 108 515 373 133 1,459 242 182
Norway 22,867 859,820 390,008 1.5 2.3 108,795 7,042 25,562 4,182 473 6,524 1,218 1,264 15 734 78
Pakistan 106 45 21 0.1 0.1 333 5 159 24 — 1 3 4 2 32 4
Panama 536 4,713 2,138 79.4 127.7 33,143 659 228 12,658 2,723 2,125 1,044 1,230 1,101 211 618
Peru 2,685 76,439 34,672 352.7 567.6 101,981 6,842 1,914 2,238 1,033 2,285 3,818 735 737 606 1,447
Philippines 4,855 326,166 147,946 144.2 232.0 103,704 9,322 3,505 6,323 28,958 3,396 4,988 2,506 1,496 2,172 2,532
Poland 6 5 2 0.3 0.4 52 7 5 4 3 — — — 12 1
Portugal 673 2,109 957 9.1 14.6 8,420 267 3,659 194 783 152 184 304 201 148 74
Puerto Rico 6,137 46,664 21,167 399.2 642.4 423,592 15,391 58,207 27,946 36,623 34,587 8,669 16,498 14,426 28,590 17,730
Romania 1 1 0 0.0 0.0 28 1 8 2 — — 2 — — — 1
Russia 20 216 98 5.1 8.2 769 77 123 15 6 76 17 20 9 15 9
Samoa 124 1,292 586 1.9 3.0 16,145 1,031 1,066 1,500 — 1,276 3,856 284 1,081 — 1,392
Saudi Arabia 2 2 1 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
Senegal 21 111 50 0.1 0.2 410 7 — 73 73 3 14 23 71 — 8
Seychelles 271 354 161 283.0 455.4 8,758 734 925 377 146 783 91 93 67 278 76
Sierra Leone 50 950 431 1.5 2.4 25 — — — — — — — — — —
Singapore 611 4,557 2,067 25.4 40.9 21,698 1,871 5,152 706 1,253 705 1,440 203 262 1,181 398
Sint Maarten 222 2,748 1,247 13.2 21.2 9,444 287 337 1,708 809 383 915 982 345 240 200
Slovenia 104 201 91 6.0 9.6 21,692 328 17,222 77 — 151 137 28 91 113 84
South Africa 1,442 7,469 3,388 55.6 89.4 39,147 3,728 3,964 1,870 201 3,538 966 1,348 527 2,504 461
South Korea 3,994 27,171 12,325 667.4 1,074.1 108,526 4,454 20,793 4,824 11,127 3,137 5,882 2,518 2,906 4,098 1,941
Spain 1,878 14,231 6,455 68.9 110.9 78,325 3,544 26,027 2,763 1,035 4,334 2,377 1,549 4,417 1,286 1,449
Sri Lanka 12 107 49 0.6 1.0 691 76 58 114 — 13 25 43 148 16 3

18 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
GLOBAL OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED GLOBALLY

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Beverage Trash Bottle Grocery Beverage Cups,
Total Items (candy, Cigarette Bottles (Clean Caps Bags Bottles Beverage Straws, Plates
Location Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected chips, etc.) Butts (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) (Plastic) (Glass) Cans Stirrers (Plastic)
St Kitts & Nevis 12 42 19 1.0 1.6 428 21 — 95 20 27 30 30 16 20 25
St Lucia 149 991 449 1.7 2.7 4,731 405 20 672 138 577 406 112 71 116 363
Sweden 9 16 7 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —
Switzerland 2 2 1 0.1 0.1 1 — 1 — — — — — — — —
Taiwan 4,691 29,573 13,414 22.7 36.5 91,419 1,912 2,674 23,780 70 20,728 4,030 5,425 2,384 7,024 3,975
Tanzania 5,018 97,155 44,069 10.8 17.4 46,512 12,024 4,356 7,237 — 4,745 2,797 1,490 417 586 1,142
Thailand 3,507 48,442 21,973 39.6 63.7 278,359 17,305 1,046 43,544 2,087 3,746 35,449 24,343 4,783 3,703 4,206
The Bahamas 197 1,786 810 15.3 24.7 11,395 360 85 1,192 97 589 265 1,204 873 149 456
Tonga 147 159 72 0.6 1.0 1 — — — — — — — — — —
Trinidad and Tobago 36 1,213 550 1.1 1.8 15,090 94 27 13,878 94 104 163 251 26 8 95
Turkey 801 6,248 2,834 25.5 41.0 8,500 170 3,176 99 — 237 72 163 36 10 78
U.S. Virgin Islands 410 2,976 1,350 20.8 33.4 31,293 1,793 2,499 1,624 398 3,167 414 1,403 617 1,350 704
Ukraine 3 12 6 0.0 0.0 52 5 20 5 1 — 10 1 — 3 1
United Arab Emirates 517 4,325 1,962 25.0 40.2 18,006 800 3,203 3,107 390 1,589 545 746 647 201 650
United Kingdom 6,586 14,328 6,499 64.0 102.0 130,610 14,568 17,403 2,993 120 8,447 1,882 1,380 2,748 1,262 2,737
Channel Islands 53 28 13 0.2 0.4 318 18 75 — — 20 1 — 1 3 2
England 4,095 7,213 3,272 41.8 67.3 85,680 10,020 10,988 1,564 98 5,768 1,310 700 1,290 880 2,159
Northern Ireland 74 255 116 0.3 0.5 3,093 354 343 126 0 359 21 42 80 38 13
Scotland 1,828 6,129 2,780 18.6 30.0 30,377 3,415 2,913 1,101 21 1,570 462 534 1,187 217 360
Whales 536 703 319 2.5 4.0 11,142 761 3,084 202 1 730 88 104 190 124 203
United States 133,027 2,385,630 1,082,103 9,108.0 14,658.0 2,966,725 274,030 505,035 126,162 147,919 224,444 67,489 55,703 94,353 91,988 46,233
Uruguay 2,000 11,023 5,000 62.1 100.0 10,814 1,624 347 1,108 1,474 484 1,262 665 312 182 315
Vanuatu 88 741 336 3.2 5.1 8,826 2,563 216 846 — 606 75 212 869 173 144
Venezuela 1,849 12,501 5,670 59.4 95.5 90,054 6,457 5,672 7,133 110 6,310 3,678 3,138 1,693 3,848 4,782
Vietnam 4 2 1 0.0 0.0 26 1 2 2 — — 1 2 — 2 5
Wallis and Futuna 228 10,568 4,794 4.3 7.0 13,098 — — 6,896 — — 413 497 3,847 — —
Location Not Recorded 14,324 82,975 37,634 33.9 268.2 319,444 20,199 43,392 32,008 25,633 21,163 15,957 9,512 9,341 10,931 8,747
Grand Total 318,928 5,595,330 2,537,996 16,766 27,195 9,760,227 1,341,463 1,134,292 849,321 613,972 579,020 415,245 304,337 267,189 260,395 245,961

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 19

UNITED STATES OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED IN THE UNITED STATES

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Bottle Trash Beverage Bottle Grocery Beverage
Total Items Cigarette (candy, Caps (Clean Bottles Beverage Straws, Caps Bags Bottles
State Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected Butts chips, etc.) (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) Cans Stirrers (Metal) (Plastic) (Glass)
Alabama 2,753 25,955 11,773 174.4 280.7 60,245 8,020 4,526 4,001 2,241 4,691 4,570 1,501 1,137 1,860 1,513

Alaska 498 1,206 547 26.7 42.9 8,475 1,676 643 235 — 153 753 61 173 61 185

Arizona 39 930 422 0.5 0.8 373 39 16 13 34 19 14 9 18 13 31

Arkansas 1 53 24 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —

California 34,881 380,725 172,694 2,145.3 3,452.5 629,016 125,157 68,214 24,949 58,799 15,784 12,770 13,291 16,919 14,000 10,559

Colorado 2,305 28,064 12,729 29.0 46.7 1,553 293 195 68 148 112 57 38 41 35 26

Connecticut 1,723 10,215 4,634 274.1 441.2 51,185 5,992 5,194 2,775 4,147 3,535 2,510 1,257 1,334 1,450 1,904

Delaware 611 4,051 1,837 121.5 195.5 26,990 7,988 1,802 1,949 — 1,195 1,265 578 421 327 476

District of Colombia 181 3,251 1,474 4.6 7.4 2,725 507 1,232 564 463 1,057 419 186 143 905 193

Florida 19,116 88,904 40,326 1,528.5 2,459.9 695,403 104,616 41,855 69,534 43,966 23,898 15,472 18,770 20,193 17,814 9,947

Georgia 7,743 288,595 130,905 569.2 916.1 55,369 12,937 2,871 1,843 192 3,876 5,186 1,370 937 2,445 4,430

Hawaii 1,142 35,122 15,931 561.4 903.5 62,879 7,999 3,751 9,719 219 3,515 6,966 609 7,011 173 1,378

Idaho 3 163 74 5.5 8.9 233 106 24 9 — 5 15 3 2 5 1

Illinois 1,664 5,542 2,514 11.5 18.6 71,329 13,069 5,445 5,468 106 1,650 1,603 3,438 3,154 593 671

Indiana 319 227 103 0.8 1.3 25,744 1,011 21,889 373 — 104 43 123 80 12 34

Iowa 1 0 0 0.1 0.1 1 1 — — — — — — — — —

Kansas 64 522 237 0.2 0.4 8,951 330 525 500 225 626 3,551 355 350 100 600

Kentucky 4 21 10 0.0 0.0 211 — 33 4 33 19 12 5 — 24 —

Louisiana 69 5,794 2,628 19.3 31.1 3,131 63 366 166 157 374 367 41 34 366 165

Maine 533 2,580 1,170 56.0 90.2 16,434 4,418 894 412 322 399 258 149 108 169 65

Maryland 311 4,819 2,186 12.0 19.4 40,891 632 2,097 3,032 686 1,935 583 1,667 256 509 534

Massachusetts 2,370 76,414 34,661 118.8 191.2 54,449 8,894 5,167 2,859 3,924 4,651 3,274 1,549 686 1,732 2,633

Michigan 1,139 3,263 1,480 15.7 25.3 67,497 12,959 3,747 3,324 384 575 483 2,126 692 314 249

Minnesota 24 34 15 0.4 0.6 722 303 34 19 3 11 5 12 5 6 1

Mississippi 513 4,101 1,860 38.9 62.6 29,812 5,945 2,843 1,756 778 1,458 812 934 589 745 376

Missouri 213 3,170 1,438 1.2 1.9 13 — 2 1 6 1 — — — — —

20 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
UNITED STATES OCEAN TRASH INDEX TOP 10 ITEMS COLLECTED IN THE UNITED STATES

2021 International Coastal Cleanup 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Food Other
Wrappers Bottle Trash Beverage Bottle Grocery Beverage
Total Items Cigarette (candy, Caps (Clean Bottles Beverage Straws, Caps Bags Bottles
State Volunteers Pounds Kilograms Miles Kilometers Collected Butts chips, etc.) (Plastic) Swell) (Plastic) Cans Stirrers (Metal) (Plastic) (Glass)
Montana 12 60 27 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —

Nebraska 1 8 3 0.1 0.1 — — — — — — — — — — —

Nevada 47 1,055 479 0.1 0.1 1,879 939 117 55 98 205 18 9 1 31 37

New Hampshire 404 5,495 2,493 35.3 56.9 7,133 1,287 611 181 126 642 602 85 104 110 260

New Jersey 5,176 27,394 12,426 126.9 204.2 230,108 20,680 30,585 40,960 303 6,588 3,701 20,668 3,018 4,855 1,833

New Mexico 3 10 5 0.1 0.1 1 — — — — — — — — — —

New York 4,033 42,735 19,384 224.1 360.6 123,896 17,761 9,247 10,856 4,136 5,352 3,648 6,338 4,671 2,642 2,316

North Carolina 2,009 29,745 13,492 326.4 525.3 80,929 36,831 4,885 1,895 6,450 2,296 1,842 1,188 625 1,467 872

Ohio 1,321 10,421 4,727 76.1 122.5 78,673 8,260 6,192 3,148 664 3,973 2,868 2,326 918 1,960 1,313

Oklahoma 2 2 1 2.3 3.7 19 — 1 — 1 1 — 3 — 2 2

Oregon 56 541 246 9.2 14.8 914 134 85 58 81 25 27 12 18 29 12

Pennsylvania 14,100 749,286 339,871 1,255.7 2,020.8 46,488 10,971 5,686 2,854 259 10,528 2,374 86 23 1,612 970

Rhode Island 2,446 14,249 6,463 302.9 487.5 144,203 33,550 12,870 9,229 3,616 7,131 3,796 4,855 3,060 1,971 3,792

South Carolina 425 1,104 501 21.5 34.6 5,029 1,323 490 307 552 284 103 106 25 136 49

South Dakota 2 40 18 0.3 0.4 120 — 20 7 — 25 4 7 — 20 —

Tennessee 261 8,265 3,749 12.0 19.3 2,317 50 250 88 — 288 194 68 32 168 183

Texas 13,292 402,968 182,783 134.5 216.5 58,853 5,538 3,802 7,613 3,732 3,407 2,509 1,769 1,805 1,194 1,262

Utah 133 700 317 13.0 20.9 1,568 346 337 26 182 102 73 45 7 25 63

Vermont 145 3,717 1,686 13.3 21.4 8,119 296 775 174 — 739 485 212 120 178 262

Virginia 3,514 27,536 12,490 286.7 461.3 135,165 19,383 11,818 6,973 4,974 8,387 5,694 3,330 6,439 4,580 3,001

Washington 1,292 32,246 14,627 101.6 163.5 21,199 4,445 2,297 773 1,836 498 686 356 471 389 538

West Virginia 7 31 14 0.1 0.1 30 — — 8 1 1 1 1 — — 1

Wisconsin 1,668 15,225 6,906 29.9 48.1 29,448 6,520 4,638 1,438 243 2,262 1,327 765 261 1,555 753

Location Not Recorded 4,458 39,078 17,725 420.1 676.1 77,003 13,766 5,959 4,228 3,832 3,785 3,413 1,687 1,653 907 2,213

Grand Total 133,027 2,385,630 1,082,103 9,108.0 14,658.0 2,966,725 505,035 274,030 224,444 147,919 126,162 94,353 91,988 77,534 67,489 55,703

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 21

 INTERNATIONAL ICC COORDINATOR

Acknowledgements
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA BELIZE COLOMBIA GREECE INDONESIA Kwale Recycling
Caribbean Youth The Scout Association Sentidos de la Tierra HELMEPA Bali Hotel Association Center
Environment Network in of Belize Eileen Martes Solano Constantinos Triantafillou & Kevin Girard Susan Skull-Carvalho
Antigua & Barbuda Ricardo N. Alcoser & Eleni Tsolka Plastic Man Institute Osiepe Sango
CROATIA
Elijah James & Roberto Lopez Stefan Rafael (Friends of Lake Victoria)
Blue World Institute of Marine GUAM
Seimone Joseph Michelle & Jeremy Muchilwa
BERMUDA Research and Conservation Bureau of Statistics & IRELAND
ARGENTINA Keep Bermuda Beautiful Jelena Basta Plans, Guam Coastal Clean Coasts Ireland, World Student Community
Asociación ReCrear Katie Berry Management Program An Taisce for Sustainable Development
CYPRUS
Liliana Toranzo Steven Dierking Sinead McCoy Ezra Onyango
BRAZIL AKTI Project and
AUSTRALIA Instituto Gremar Resgate Research Centre GUATEMALA ISRAEL MALAWI
Tangaroa Blue Foundation e Reabilitação de Animais Demetra Orthodoxou ARCAS Wildlife Rescue and The Israeli Plastic Pollution Malawi Beach and
Heidi Tait Marinhos (GREMAR) Conservation Association Prevention Coalition and The Underwater Cleanup &
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Rosane Farah Colum Muccio & Israeli Diving Federation Ulimi Trust
BARBADOS Fundación Vida Azul
Fundação Mamíferos Miriam Monterroso Dr. Galia Pasternak Moses Sankson Laija,
Caribbean Youth Oscar Oviedo & Elba Puello
Aquáticos Antigua Green School Innocent Sopha Mjumira &
Environment Network Mariposa DR Foundation ITALY
Daniela Araujo Grace Hilling Kondwani Wilson Mjumira
in Barbados Patricia Suriel & Sara Bruins Marevivo Onlus
Arabelle James-Anglies Instituto Terra e Mar GUYANA Raffaella Giugni MALAYSIA
Shirley Pacheco de Souza ECUADOR Reef Check Malaysia
THE BAHAMAS Carribbean Youth Reef Check Italy
Mar y Ambiente Theresa Ng & Julian Hyde
Abaco BRUNEI Environment Network Gianfranco Rossi &
Consultores & Ministry of
Friends of the Environment Coastal Cleanup Brunei in Guyana Carlo Cerrano The Body Shop Malaysia
Environment of Ecuador
Olivia Patterson Maura & Alan Tan Kiefer Jackson & Jesse Siew
Jaime Paredes & Mae-Pngids Sardinia
Lianna Burrows Lakeram Singh
CAMEROON Clean Coast Sardinia MAURITIUS
EGYPT
Grand Bahama Island Association for Community HONG KONG Anna Kowalska Nature Océan Indien
Youth Love Egypt Foundation
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Awareness (ASCOA) Hong Kong Cleanup Courtney Jenkins &
Ahmed Fathy JAMAICA
Andre Cartwright & Linus Ayangwoh Embe, Ebong Lisa Chistensen Rachel Warnick
FINLAND Jamaica Environment Trust
Aulenna Robinson Fidel & Ruth Enjema Koffi Green Council MEXICO
Keep the Archipelago Lauren Creary
Steven Choi Baja California
Nassau CANADA Tidy Association JAPAN Proyecto Fronterizo
Dolphin Encounters Ocean Wise Conservation Julia Jännäri & Atte Lindqvist ICELAND
Japan Environmental Margarita Diaz
Te-Shalla Clarke Association Arctic Marine
The Åland Society for Action Network
Laura Hardman Conservation Crew Colima
BAHRAIN Nature & Environment Yoshiko Yoshino &
Birna Reynisdóttir Universidad de Colima
Cleanup Bahrain CHILE Linda Eriksson Azusa Kojima
Ali AlQaseer Aquatic Environment INDIA Lidia Silva Iñiguez
GERMANY KENYA
Preservation Department, Indian Maritime Foundation Quintana Roo
BANGLADESH One Earth—One Ocean Kenya Conservation of
DIRECTMAR, Chilean Navy Capt.S.Krishnamurthi & ARSA CARIBE
Kewkradong Pia Blessin & Dr. Harald Frank Aquatic Resources
Macarena Maldifassi Cmde.P.K.Malhotra Araceli Ramirez Lopez
S. M. Muntasir Mamun David Olendo
GHANA Bhumi
CHINA Watamu Marine Association
Smart Nature Freak Youth Dr. Prahalathan KK &
Shanghai Rendu NPO Julie Myra Alego & Steve Trott
Volunteers Foundation of Ashkay Jain
Development Centre
Accra-Ghana
Yonglong Liu
Tyler Kobla
22 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
Sonora Fundacion para la Proteccion SENEGAL ST LUCIA U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS VIETNAM
Centro Intercultural del Mar (PROMAR) Barracuda Club Dakar Caribbean Youth Environment St. Croix Centre for Marinelife
de Estudios de Desiertos Ricardo Wong Julie Bernier Network in Saint Lucia University of the Conservation and
y Oceanos Virginie Sealys Virgin Islands—Virgin Community Development
PERU SEYCHELLES
Paloma Valdivia Islands Marine Advisory Thu Hue Nguyen,
VIDA—Instituto Para l North Island Volunteers SWEDEN
Service (VIMAS) Ho The Trung, & Thi Ngoc Ngo
Tamaulipas a Proteccion del Clean Sweden
SIERRA LEONE Dr. Paul Jobsis GreenHub
Club Regatas Corona, A.C. Medio Ambiente Anton Hedlund &
Sierra Leone School Nguyen Thi Thu Trang &
Alejandra López de Román Arturo Alfaro Medina & Mårten Heslyk St. Thomas
Green Club Ta Linh Chi
Ursula Carrascal Vizarreta Keep Sweden Tidy University of the
Mexico City Alhassan Sesay &
Sandra Toivio & Eva Bildberg Virgin Islands—Virgin The Body Shop Vietnam
Hands On, Mexico PHILIPPINES Daniel Conteh
Islands Marine Advisory Kha Tran & Linh Nguyen
Blanca Ramírez & ICC Philippines TAIWAN
SINGAPORE Service (VIMAS)
Gray Beverly Geronimo P. Reyes Kuroshio Ocean Education WALLIS AND FUTUNA
Lee Kong Chian Natural Howard Forbes, Jr. &
Philippine Coast Foundation & Taiwan Ocean Mouvement du Focolare,
MOZAMBIQUE History Museum, National Mindy Solivan
Guard Auxiliary Cleanup Alliance Vaitupu Village Association
Dolphin Encountours University of Singapore
Vice Admiral Valentin B. Pei-Jen Wen & UNITED ARAB EMIRATES & A Vaka-Heke (AVH)
Research Center N. Sivasothi
Prieto Jr PCGA Dr. Leon Yun-Chin Emirates Diving Association
Angie Gullan PACIFIC ISLANDS
SINT MAARTEN Ahmed Bin Byat, Reem
Department of Environment TANZANIA COUNTRIES AND
NETHERLANDS Sint Maarten Abbas & Ibrahim Al-Zubi
and Natural Resources Nipe Fagio Ltd. TERRITORIES
The North Sea Foundation Pride Foundation Goumbook
Chris Villarin Ana Rocha Secretariat of the
Sebastiaan Verkade & Jadira Veen & Riddhi Samtani Carolin Hussein,
Hands On Manila Pacific Regional
Marijke Boonstra THAILAND Ewa Karolewska &
Jeff Gallardo & SLOVENIA Environment Programme
NICARAGUA Zavod TRI-NITI Department of Marine and Tatiana Antonelli Julie Pillet
Jennylyn Ferraren
Paso Pacifico Andreja Palatinus & Coastal Resources
Lighthouse Marina Resort UNITED KINGDOM GLOBAL (UNDERWATER
Sarah Otterstrom & Spela Grohar Suhaitai Prasankul &
Legacy Foundation Ratchanee Phuttapreecha United Kingdom CLEANUPS)
Anna Chevez
Zed Avecilla SOUTH AFRICA Marine Conservation Society Project AWARE
Global Vision International
NIGERIA Plastics SA Justine Millard, Lizzie Prior & Underwater Cleanups
PORTUGAL Katie Woodroffe
Nigerian Institute for John Kieser Clare Trotman Ania Budziak & Ian Campbell
Oceanography and Portuguese Marine
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Litter Association Northern Ireland GLOBAL (UNDERWATER
Marine Research Wayne Munger Caribbean Network
João Frias Keep Northern CLEANUPS)
Oyeronke Adegbile & for Integrated Rural
SOUTH KOREA Ireland Beautiful The Reef-World Foundation/
Justina Obienu Sailors for the Sea Portugal Development
Our Sea of East Asia Network Randy Repass, Jr. & Green Fins
My Environment My Wealth Bernardo Corrêa Marissa Mohamed &
Dr. Jongmyoung Lee & Helen Tomb Chloe Harvey &
Wonne Afronelly de Barros, Isaac Silveira & Deon Brebnor
Cheila Almeida Sunwook Hong Samantha Craven
Scotland
NORTHERN MARIANA TONGA
SPAIN Keep Scotland Beautiful
ISLANDS PUERTO RICO No Pelesitiki Campaign (NPC)
Asociación Ambiente Heather McLaughlin &
Division of Coastal Scuba Dogs Society
Europeo TURKEY Catherine Gee
Resources Management Silmarie Sánchez, Angela
Perez & Sandra Schleier Daniel Rolleri TURMEPA
Colleen Flores, Janice Castro URUGUAY
Çağil Toparlak Alkan &
& William T. Pendergrass SRI LANKA Ministry of Environment
RUSSIA Dağhan Mehmet Yazıcı
Marine Environment Cristina Quintas
NORWAY Ecostart
Deniz Yaşamını Koruma
Yana Blinovskaia Protection Authority VANUATU
Keep Norway Beautiful Derneği(DYKD)/ Marine Life
Jagath Gunasekara Vanuatu Environmental
Lise Gulbransen & Malin Dahl SAMOA Conservatıon Society
ST KITTS & NEVIS Volkan Narci Science Society
PANAMA Samoa Recycling Waste
Department of Environment Dr. Christina Shaw &
Asociacion Nacional para Management Association
Derionne Edmeade Martika Tahi
la Conservacion de la (SRWMA), Laumei Outrigger
Naturaleza (ANCON) Canoe Club & Samoa MNRE Nevis Historical and VENEZUELA
Jenny Echeverria & Conservation Society (NHCS) FUDENA
Grecia Medina Lorna XX Déborah Bigio &
Luisa Escobar
INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 23
 UNITED STATES ICC COORDINATOR

Acknowledgements
ALABAMA
Weeks Bay Foundation
DELAWARE
Delaware Department
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Office of
NEW YORK
American Littoral Society
SOUTH CAROLINA
S.C. Sea Grant
Florida
Angela Underwood of Natural Resources & Coastal Zone Management Lisa Scheppke, Natalie Grant Consortium & S.C. ALACHUA
Environmental Control Robin Lacey & Done Riepe Dept. of Natural Resources Current Problems
ALASKA
Matthew Cardona Buffalo Niagara Susan Ferris Hill Nicole Llina
Center for Alaskan MASSACHUSETTS
Coastal Studies FLORIDA Connecticut River Waterkeeper S.C. Dept. of Health & BAY
Henry Reiske Multiple Coordinators Conservancy Wendy Paterson Environmental Control, Keep Panama City
Stacey Lennard Save the Great South Bay Adopt-A-Beach Program Beach Beautiful
ARIZONA GEORGIA Liz Hartje
Janet Soley JoAnn Weatherford
OdySea Aquarium Georgia Environmental MICHIGAN
Lisa Ristuccia Protection Division, Alliance for the Great Lakes Coastal Steward Long Island TEXAS Mexico Beach Civic
Rivers Alive Juliann Krupa & Olivia Reda Patty Kuchcicki Texas General Land Office Association
CALIFORNIA Adrian Loucks
Harold Harbert NORTH CAROLINA Tanya Castro
California Coastsal MINNESOTA
Lake Allatoona Assocation Wake County Big Sweep Keep Texas Beautiful BREVARD
Commission Alliance for the Great Lakes
Carole Miller “Alex Heinemann & Sarah Nichols Canaveral National Seashore
Eben Schwartz & Juliann Krupa & Olivia Reda
Bekkah Scharf Fight Dirty Tybee Sheila Jones” VERMONT Avia Woulard
MISSISSIPPI
Tim Arnold Wayne Big Sweep Rozalia Project for a Keep Brevard Beautiful
COLORADO Mississippi Coastal Cleanup
Barbara Byers, Jessica Clean Ocean Bryan Bobbitt &
Fountain Creek Watershed HAWAII Program & Mississippi
Hamilton, & Summer Young Rachael Miller & Amanda Muzaurieta
Flood Control and Keep Puako Beautiful & Inland Cleanup Program
Ashley Sullivan
Greenway District South Kohala Reef Alliance Mandy Sartain & OHIO BROWARD
Allison Schuch Cynthia Ho & Kelly Rohlfs Jessi A. James Alliance for the Great Lakes VIRGINIA Broward County Natural
Juliann Krupa & Olivia Reda Clean Virginia Waterways— Resources Division
CONNECTICUT ILLINOIS NEBRASKA
Partners for Clean Streams Longwood University Mark Hartman
Save the Sound, Connecticut Alliance for the Great Lakes Keep Nebraska
Kristina Patterson Katie Register
Fund for the Environment Juliann Krupa & Olivia Reda Beautiful & Affiliates CEDAR KEY
Annalisa Paltauf Bob Verkuilen WASHINGTON Cedar Key Aquaculture
INDIANA OREGON
Connecticut River SOLVE Puget Soundkeeper Alliance Association; Florida
Alliance for the Great Lakes NEW HAMPSHIRE
Conservancy Dave Lowe Gillian Flippo Sea Grant
Juliann Krupa & Olivia Reda Blue Ocean Society for
Stacey Lennard Marine Conservation Washington CoastSavers SueColson
LOUISIANA PENNSYLVANIA
Jen Kennedy James Roubal UF|IFAS Extension—
Pontchartrain Conservancy Keep Pennsylvania
Beautiful Sustainable Bainbridge Florida Sea Grant
Chris Barnett & Kristi Trail NEW JERSEY
Michelle Dunn Christine Perkins SavannaBarry
Clean Ocean Action
MAINE
Alison Jones & Catie Tobin WISCONSIN CHARLOTTE
Maine Coastal Program RHODE ISLAND
New Jersey Clean Save The Bay Milwaukee Riverkeeper Keep Charlotte Beautiful
Theresa Torrent
Communities Council July Lewis Allie Mendez RhondaHarvey
MARYLAND JoAnn Gemenden CITRUS
National Aquarium
Citrus BOCC
Laura Bankey
TraceyIvkovic
Kent Island Beach Cleanups
Kristin Weed

24 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
COLLIER MIAMI-DADE ST. JOHNS
Keep Collier County Beautiful Volunteercleanup.org Guana Tolomato Matanzas
Jim Zimmerman Dara Schoenwald & National Estuarine Research
Dave Doebler Reserve (GTMNERR), FLDEP
DUVAL
Shannon Rininger
Keep Jacksonville Beautiful NASSAU
& City of Jacksonville Keep Nassau Beautiful St. Johns County Chapter of
Neighborhoods Department Lynda Bell & Sam Gaehring National Audubon Society
Dan Durbec Marcy Brenner
OKALOOSA
ESCAMBIA Emerald Coast Convention VOLUSIA
Escambia County Marine & Visitors Bureau County of Volusia,
Resources Division Nancy Hussong Environmental Management
Robert Turpin Jennifer Winters &
ORANGE Alexa Putillo
Keep Pensacola Beautiful Keep Orlando Beautiful
Madelyn Newton Sean Hipps WAKULLA
Keep Wakulla
FLAGLER PALM BEACH County Beautiful
Friends of A1A Scenic & Friends of MacArthur Tammie Nason
Historic Coastal Byway Beach State Park
Danielle Anderson Sarah Norton WALTON
Choctawhatchee
FRANKLIN Keep Palm Beach
Basin Alliance
Apalachicola Riverkeeper County Beautiful
Brandy Foley
Ada Long Linda Moreno
Friends of South Walton
GADSDEN Loggerhead
Sea Turtles
City of Chattahoochee Marinelife Center
Beth Coppedge
Karen Marsh Katie O’Hara

HILLSBOROUGH PINELLAS
Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Keep Pinellas Beautiful
Debbie Evenson Pat DePlasco &
Stephanie Ellington
INDIAN RIVER
Tampa Bay Watch
Keep Indian River Beautiful
Melanie Grillone
Daisy Morris
PUTNAM
LEE
Keep Putnam Beautiful
Keep Lee County Beautiful
Marcia Marinello
Trish Francher
SANTA ROSA
LEON
Santa Rosa Clean
Keep Tallahassee-Leon
Community
County Beautiful (KTLCB)
Mike Sandler
Diana Hanson
SARASOTA
MANATEE
Keep Sarasota
Keep Manatee Beautiful
County Beautiful
Jennifer Hoffman
Wendi Crisp
MARTIN
Keep Martin Beautiful
Tiffany Smith

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 25

 CLEANUP
COORDINATORS:

Leaders of
the ICC KATIE REGISTER
Virginia
Clean Virginia Waterways

The International Coastal Cleanup would not be the impactful and

truly global force that it is today without the remarkable dedication
and leadership of a growing network of ICC coordinators. The way
that this network was able to evolve during the pandemic and still
create meaningful experiences connecting people with our ocean
and the plastic pollution problem is a testament to their strength
and expertise. Ocean Conservancy is honored to work with these
wonderful individuals and organizations from across the globe.

OSCAR OVIEDO
Dominican Republic
Fundación Vida Azul

HAROLD HARBERT
Georgia
Rivers Alive

KRISTIN WEED
Maryland
Kent Island Beach Cleanups

26 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
OYERONKE ADEGBILE
Nigeria GALIA PASTERNAK
Nigerian Institute for Oceanography Israel
and Marine Research The Israeli Diving Federation

EILEEN MARTES TYLER KOBLA

Colombia Ghana
Sentidos de la Tierra Smart Nature Freak Youth
Volunteers Foundation

MARISSA MOHAMED STEFAN RAFAEL

Trinidad and Tobago Indonesia
CNIRD Plasticman Institute

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 27

 2021 SUPPORTING

Partners
Mattel volunteers,
Los Angeles, California

Oracle underwater
cleanup volunteer

Oracle Mattel, Inc.

When group gatherings became impossible due to Leading global toy company Mattel supports
the COVID-19 pandemic, Ocean Conservancy and the Ocean Conservancy’s efforts towards a clean,
technology company Oracle worked together to fight healthy ocean as an International Coastal
ocean plastic pollution despite the pandemic. In March Cleanup partner. Mattel PlayBack was launched
and April of 2021, Ocean Conservancy and Oracle joined in 2021 as a toy takeback program with the aim
forces to organize the company’s first-ever global cleanup, of recovering and reusing materials from old
encouraging employees to pick up trash at their local Mattel toys for future Mattel products.
waterways, beaches and parks. The effort was part of
As part of their ongoing global volunteer
Oracle’s annual Focus on Environment initiative, which
campaign, Play It Forward, Mattel teamed up
engages employees to volunteer on behalf of the planet.
with Ocean Conservancy to host three cleanups
Close to 1,400 Oracle Volunteers around the world held to engage employees to collect trash from local
cleanups, preventing thousands of pounds of trash from waterways and beaches. In 2021, 248 Mattel
entering the ocean. Volunteers from India, Japan, the U.S., volunteers worked together to collect over
Germany, South Africa and many other nations logged their 400 pounds of trash at cleanup events
cleanup efforts in Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app. in El Segundo, CA; East Aurora, NY;
Oracle employees also supported Ocean Conservancy through and Middleton, WI.
a fundraising campaign.

Oracle is committed to protecting the planet through its 30-year-

old volunteer program as well as philanthropy and sustainability
initiatives. The company has a goal to achieve 100% renewable
energy use across its operations globally, including all next-
generation Oracle Cloud data centers, by 2025.

28 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
 2021 International
Coastal Cleanup
Supporting Partners
American Express
The Coca-Cola Foundation
Bank of America
The PepsiCo Foundation

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Anonymous Retired Bremerton Resident
Pacific Life Foundation
The Starbucks Foundation
Breitling
Brunswick Foundation
Dow
The Forrest C. & Frances H. Lattner Foundation
Garnier
The Kleid Family Charitable Fund
Mattel, Inc.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
The Philip Stephenson Foundation
Suntory
Cox Enterprises
Garnier volunteers, France ITW
Garnier The Martin Foundation

Global cosmetics brand Garnier launched its Greener Beauty initiative in 2020 Oracle
to radically reduce the beauty brand’s environmental impact. O-I Glass, Inc.
SeaBOS
Garnier joined forces several years ago with Ocean Conservancy to tackle ocean
Sofidel
pollution. In 2021, Garnier launched a “Spotless September” campaign to celebrate the
Natalie Clabo
International Coastal Cleanup, inspiring Garnier employees around the world to participate in
cleanups where they live.
OUTREACH PARTNERS
In total, 482 Garnier volunteers across five countries collected 4,964 pounds (2,252 kilograms) of trash Keep America Beautiful
from beaches, waterways and parks in their local communities. United Nations Environment Programme

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 29

 ICC Team & Photo credits
Front cover: Colombia, Sentidos de la Tierra

Contributors
Inside front cover: Jamaica, Jamaica
Environment Trust
Page 1: Ocean Conservancy
Page 2: Colombia, Ocean Conservancy
Page 3: Canada, Surfrider Vancouver; Canada,
University of Toronto Trash Lab
Page 4: Ghana, Smart Nature Freak Youth
Volunteers Foundation
WALLIS AND FUTUNA Page 5: Georgia, Fight Dirty Tybee; Sardinia,
Clean Coast Sardinia
Page 6: Jamaica, Jamaica Environment Trust;

ICC Team Dominican Republic, Rafeed Hussain

Page 7: Dominican Republic, Mariposa Foundation;
Ainsley Stewart
Malaysia, Reef Check Malaysia; Egypt, Youth
Allison Schutes
Love Egypt Foundation
Claudia Godreau Page 8: Ocean Conservancy
Robyn Albritton Page 9: Indonesia, Plasticman Institute; Philippines,
Sarah Kollar Bellevue Bohol
Susannah Spruill Page 10: Photos courtesy of individual Clean
Truett Sparkman Swell app users
Page 11: Photo courtesy of individual Clean Swell
app user
Contributors Page 12 & 13: Bahamas, Dolphin Encounters
Britta Baechler Page 14: Jamaica, Jamaica Environment Trust
Felipe Victoria Page 26: Virginia, Clean Virginia Waterways;
Hannah De Frond Dominican Republic, Fundación Vida Azul;
Jordana Lewis Georgia, Rivers Alive; Maryland, Kent Island
Maddie Black Beach Cleanups
Page 27: Nigeria, Nigerian Institute for
Oceanography and Marine Research; Israel,
The Israeli Diving Federation; Colombia, Eileen
Martes; Trinidad and Tobago, Keegan Callender;
Ghana, Smart Nature Freak Youth Volunteers
Foundation; Indonesia, Plasticman Institute
Page 28: California, Mattel; Diver, Oracle Volunteer
Page 29: France, Garnier
Page 30: Wallis and Futuna, Benjamin Brial
Page 31: Dominican Republic, Rafeed Hussain
Back cover: Florida, Nola Schoder
30 OCEAN CONSERVANCY
 INTRODUCING THE NEW

Ocean Conservancy has launched its newly revamped cleanup app, Clean
Swell®. Clean Swell is the official app of Ocean Conservancy’s International
Coastal Cleanup, but it is also a tool available to all for year-round and solo
cleanup efforts. “Clean Swell has been a game changer for the ICC, particularly
in the wake of COVID-19,” said Allison Schutes, director of the ICC at Ocean
Conservancy. Millions of data points collected by volunteers inform big picture
solutions to the ocean plastic crisis.

Data submitted through the app instantaneously upload to Ocean Conservancy’s

global Ocean Trash Index, the world’s largest database of marine debris. These
data have been used by scientists, environmentalists, governments and others to
better understand and characterize the global plastic pollution problem.

The app has proven integral during the COVID-19 pandemic as well. In the
absence of large community cleanups, individuals used Clean Swell to conduct
small group or solo cleanups, and Ocean Conservancy updated the app to include
PPE as a new category, which resulted in over 100,000 PPE items recorded by
ICC volunteers in just six months in 2020.

In addition to a new and improved interface that makes data recording easier
than ever, users will now be able to increase their impact by connecting to Ocean
Conservancy’s action center directly through the app. The app can be used without
WiFi or cellular service and is available in 12 languages. Clean Swell users can also
earn badges, based on the different types of trash found and number of cleanups
completed, and share their accomplishments on Facebook, Twitter and via e-mail.

App Store Google Play

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP 31

1300 19th Street NW, 8th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
With offices in Alaska and on the
West, Gulf and East coasts.
TOLL-FREE +1 800.519.1541

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