Bank holiday plea on Swansea beach litter

With thousands expected to visit beaches such as Swansea, Langland, Caswell and Rhossili over the extended weekend, there are likely to be many picnics, snacks and drinks consumed there.

Mark Thomas, Swansea Council’s cabinet member for environment, asks locals and visitors to treat the area with respect.

He said: “It’s important not to drop litter but unfortunately there’s a small number of people who see no harm in littering.

“Swansea is not alone in having litter and sea waste on its shoreline and it’s a problem that the council addresses as best it can.

“This is helped enormously by having the public on board by them either taking their own litter away with them and disposing of it responsibly or by joining volunteer litter picks.”

The council’s work on litter clearance and recycling includes raising awareness across its communities, weekly household waste collections and regular beach cleans.

Cleansing and parks staff will be working over this bank holiday weekend to ensure that litter within public spaces is kept to a minimum. Extra staff are being employed to service the area surrounding Singleton Park in light of the tens of thousands expected at the BBC Biggest Weekend.

Cllr Thomas said:

“My message for this bank holiday weekend is that no litter is acceptable – a single sweet wrapper on the floor is unacceptable.

“Of course, much of the waste seen on our beaches – like nets and fishing lines – comes in from the sea but there remains a problem with a small number of people who don’t dispose of their litter responsibly.

“The global problem of plastic waste has become a hot topic thanks to David Attenborough highlighting it on TV.

“Most of us now know that plastic litter is broken down and becomes part of our food chain and most of us who use out beaches this bank holiday know how special our coast is – just look at the number of tourists attracted by our natural environment.”

Report a problem with bins and litter www.swansea.gov.uk/tidyswansea