International Coastal Cleanup 2012 in JAPANIn the Autumn 2012 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), 9,029 people participated. A total of 347,780
pieces of litter was picked up carefully one-by-one from 57 km of waterfront (coast, riverbank, andlakeshore), underwater and inland areas. A summary of the overall results is presented here.

▼ ICC in the world

150

50 万100
50

1000
0

1995

800

2000

2005

700

2010

PeopleSites

010,000Sites of ICC in Japan

1990

1995

2000
Year

１48

8

Kanagawa

38Toyama

57Chiba

0Cleanup Sites

1020304050Sites
１2,771

Rank24623

Hyogo

5603

Kagangawa

227,281

Fukuoka

326,445

Ehime

423,927

Hiroshima

522,208

Hyogo

618,641

Osaka

715,246

Yamagata

815,110

Nagasaki

13,703Kagoshima

10

Kagoshima

739

87,544

9

Yamagata

1,156

3Tokyo0

2010

１

Tokyo

36

3

Yamagata

Rank

Rank

2

2005

11,655

Wakayama

20,00040,000Tokyo

LitterParticipants
0

60,00080,000100,000

Amount of litter（pieces）
0

500

1000

1500

Peoples

１

2500

31,250

2
Rank

2000

3000

Yamagata

9,023 Tokyo

Kanagawa

33,02042,530Chiba

51,630Kagoshima

0

Collected
Length5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000

Collected length（km）▲ ICC participation situation byprefecture: Top 5 and 10●1234567891011121314151617181920

For the length of waterfront from which
litter was collected, Yamagata(Mogami River) and Tokyo (ArakawaRiver), which had many sites at rivers,
were ﬁrst and second.
● For the amount of litter (number ofpieces) collected, Fukuoka at which large
amounts of foamed pieces were collected
was second, and Ehime at which large
amounts of piping from oyster farming
was collected, was third.

5.8%

6.2%

6.7%

Filmy Plastic
Pieces

Ocean, river and lake origin 9.4%

Cigarette Butts
Oyster Pipes

Livelihood・Recreation

Smoking 8.5%
Inland origin
38.5%

Oyster Pipes
Foam Pieces (L)Bags (Plastic)
Beverage Bottles (Plasitic)
Food Wrappers/Containers
Caps, Lids
Glass Pieces
Paper Pieces
Beverage Cans

Fireworks

●
●●
●
●

2.8%

3.8%

Plastic Pieces▲ Changes in Top 10 items scince 1991

9.4%

Other

Foam Pieces (S)Filmy Plastic Pieces
Cigarette Butts●Amount of

9.3%

4.7%

Years

20,000100

4.6%

Of the “piece” type, four of the seven items were in the top 10.
Of the “inland origin” type, ﬁve of the 45 items were in the top 10.
Of the “inland origin” type, the top 10 accounted for 24.4% of the overall.
The top 20 accounted for 32.3%.
● “Ocean, river and lake origin” items accounted for 7.9% of the overall.
Piping for oyster farming (rank 5th) entered the top 10.
● The top 10 (up to rank 16 overall) of the manufactured items were “inlandorigin” and “ocean, river and lake origin” , accounted for 78.5% of all
manufactured items, and 37.6% of the overall.

1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2012
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011

30,000200

Pieces（S）

Foamed Pieces（L）

40,000Sites of Cleanup Campaign in Japan300

15.3% Foam

Bags(Plastic)

50,000Participants of ICC in Japan

400

●
●
●

Food Wrappers / 4.5%
Containers

60,000600
500◀ Top 10 items in Japan

22.8%

Beverage bottles (Plastic)

070000Participants ofCleanup Campaign in Japan▼ICC in Japan

16.2%

Caps, Lids 3.8%

Rank

900

Countries of ICC in the world

1990

Plastic Pieces

Other

100 万

Participants of ICC in the worldPeople

Countries

200

The overall results show the total from waterfront (ocean coast, river bank, lakeshore), underwater,and inland sites during the period when ICC was implemented (September and October).

Appearance freuency over 22 years of the top 10 items: (1) Plastic pieces (20 times),(2) Cigarette butts (18 times), (3) Foamed pieces (L) (14 times)
Incidence of the top 10 items: No major changes over 22 years.
Top item: Shifted from cigarettes butts (1990s) to plastic pieses (2000s).
Items rising in rank over 22 years: Filmy plastic pieces and beverage bottles (plastic).
Items dropping in rank over 22 years: Beverage cans, ﬁreworks.
Food wrappers/containers have increased again since 2000.

EatingPieces
52.1%

10.8%

Drinking

12.6%▲ Proportion of outﬂow by origin●●“Pieces” was 52.1% and accounted for over half.
“Pieces” accounted for more than 50% of theitems on the ocean coasts, but only 30% of theitems in rivers, underwater and inland.
● The number of articles collected per item of type
“Pieces” was more than 10 times that for type“inland origin” .
● Of the “inland origin” type items, over 80% wereattributable to daily life.
● The ratio was 4:1 for “inland origin” type: “ocean,river and lake origin” type.

Summary(1) Large quantity as well as variety.
(2) Pieces account for more than half.
(3) Over the past several years, no major changes in the top ranking items.
(4) 4:1 ratio of inland origin items: ocean, river and lake origin items.
(5) Plastic products that we use in daily life (beverage, food, smoking and livelihood/recreation) account for over 80% of the inland origin items.
(6) The problem of piping used in oyster farms in the Seto Inland Sea has not been solved.
(7) The top 10 of manufactured items account for only 40% of the overall, and the marine litter problem cannot be solved by only reducing generation ofthese items.
Once this litter that ﬂows out to the ocean sinks to the ocean ﬂoor, retrieval becomes very diﬃcult. Further, litter that ﬂows out to the ocean scatters over awide area with the ocean currents. Litter related to industry and medicine that ﬂows out is a major issue, but we must become aware that marine litter mainly
originates from daily life activities such as “drinking” , “eating” , “smoking” and “livelihood/recreation” . We, who live inland away from the ocean, are creating
a great burden on the ocean in our daily lives.
An eﬀective measure that is apparent from the results of the present work, is to focus on the top 10 that account for 80 percent of the whole. For this, an
important key is to reduce generation of pieces that account for more than half of the overall amount. It is considered that most of the pieces are items thatwashed ashore on the coast, fragmented from the impact of waves or deteriorated from ultraviolet rays while drifting in the ocean over a long period of time.
Therefore, it is a matter of great urgency to collect the objects from the ocean before they become fragmented. The coast is a ﬁlter for the ocean, and witheach wave, the ocean carries to the shore, litter that was scattered over a wide area. Since we are the only beings on earth that create things that will
become litter, and use and discard them, we have an obligation at least to always keep the coasts, which are the oceanʼ s ﬁlter, clean as compensation.
To recover and maintain the beautiful ocean, we need to continue cleanup eﬀorts by everyone.