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Litter Data in Virginia

Every fall, volunteers across Virginia participate in stream, river and beach cleanups organized by Clean Virginia Waterways and its many partners. Volunteers not only remove the litter and debris they find, but they also record data on "Ocean Trash Data Forms" supplied by the Ocean Conservancy. Year-round, volunteers can also collect data about litter by using the Clean Swell app. Here are the "TOP TEN" litter items found in recent years.

Note: Every year, the Top Ten list is dominated by single-use items used for food and beverages. And other than glass bottles and metal cans, the Top Ten items are mostly made of plastic.

2021 Top Ten Litter Items from 2021 Virginia Waterways Cleanup (part of the International Coastal Cleanup)

Rank Item # of items Percentage of all debris
1 Cigarette Butts 21, 268 14.6%
2 Bottle Caps and Lids  16,990 11.7%
3 Food Wrappers 13,505 9.3%
4 Beverage Bottles (Plastic) 10,192 7.0%
5 Beverage Cans 7,049 4.8%
6 Grocery Bags 5,814 4.0%
7 Cups and Plates (plastic + foam) 4,429 3.0%
8 Beverage Bottles (Glass) 3,799 2.6%
9 Straws & Stirrers 3,715 2.6%
10 Take-out Containers 3,255 2.2%

2020 Top Ten Litter Items from 2020 Virginia Waterways Cleanup (part of the International Coastal Cleanup)

Rank Item # of items Percentage of all debris
1 Cigarette Butts 13512 19.39%
2 Food Wrappers (candy, chips, etc.) 8164 11.72%
3 Beverage Bottles (Plastic) 8141 11.68%
4 Beverage Cans 4043 5.80%
5 Grocery Bags (Plastic) 4023 5.77%
6 Take Out/Away Containers (Plastic + foam) 3390 4.86%
7 Bottle Caps (Plastic) 2796 4.01%
8 Cups, Plates (Plastic + foam) 2356 3.38
9 Beverage Bottles (Glass) 2621 3.76%
10 Straws, Stirrers 1944 2.79%

CVW's historic data (going back to 2001) can be found by clicking here. Please use our data to find your own trends and solutions. Contact us if you need more detailed data.

To get data from your LOCAL area, use the Ocean Conservancy's TIDES on-line data base. It is FREE to use.

TIDES is a public data system containing the world's largest ocean trash dataset, all collected by volunteers. These citizen science data are collected during the annual International Coastal Cleanup and by users of Clean Swell, Ocean Conservancy's ocean trash data collection app. When exploring this system, you can view ocean trash data at a global scale or even zoom into your local beach. Looking to do your own analysis? Easily download reports for any country, state, region or location. Don't forget to join the TIDES community and contribute your ocean trash data by downloading Clean Swell!

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