Each year, CZM compiles data on the COASTSWEEP beach cleanups held throughout the state. The most recent information available is from the 2024 cleanup, which is provided below. See COASTSWEEP - Summaries of Annual Cleanups for other years. For a full list of the information available on the COASTSWEEP website, see Overview and Index.
COASTSWEEP 2024 was a busy year for press coverage highlighting the efforts of volunteers. WBZ-TV filmed a cleanup with the Johnson School, Nahant SWIM, the Girl Scouts, and CZM in September. See the WBZ-TV’s Eric Fisher joins kids in cleaning up Tudor Beach in Nahant to watch the news clip and this Twitter/X post for WBZ’s COASTSWEEP promotional piece. For additional details on COASTSWEEP 2024, see the press release, as well as the links below for additional news coverage.
- COASTSWEEP - Quincy Access Television, 9/20/24
- Marblehead’s Stramski Beach comes clean - Lynn Item, 9/22/24
- Town of Newbury celebrates success of fifth annual COASTSWEEP cleanup of Plum Island - Town of Newbury Press Release, 9/24/24
- Volunteers help clean up Plum Island beach - Daily News of Newburyport, 9/26/24
2024 Stats
Data collected for COASTSWEEP 2024 recorded that 3,224 volunteers removed nearly 19,000 pounds of trash from over 195 sites, cleaning more than 225 miles of shoreline. As with past years, cigarette butts were the most common item collected (14,113 total), followed by plastic pieces (9,720). In addition to miscellaneous pieces of plastic, many other plastic and foam items were removed, including bags, bottles and their caps, straws, utensils, cups, plates, food containers, coffee lids, foam packaging, fishing line, and strapping bands. Altogether, 35,738 various plastic and foam items were removed from Bay State beaches. And it wouldn’t be a COASTSWEEP without a few interesting items making the final tally. Volunteers found a refrigerator, wig, rocking chair, recliner sofa, car seat, bicycle, cowboy boot, mattress, and jewelry and a few suitcases.
Please join us for next year’s cleanup. Who knows what you might find while helping to keep marine debris from entering the world’s oceans?
To sign up to receive email updates on the 2025 cleanups, please email coastsweep@mass.gov.
Top 10 Items for 2024
| Rank | Debris Item | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette Butts | 14,113 |
| 2 | Plastic Pieces | 9,720 |
| 3 | Food Wrappers | 5,139 |
| 4 | Plastic Bottle Caps | 4,632 |
| 5 | Other Plastic Waste | 4,175 |
| 6 | Plastic Beverage Bottles | 3,178 |
| 7 | Other Trash | 2,220 |
| 8 | Fishing Gear | 2,145 |
| 9 | Straws and Stirrers | 2,037 |
| 10 | Foam Pieces | 1,959 |
For complete cleanup results, please see the COASTSWEEP 2024 data sheet (PDF, 125 KB). For more data, see the Summaries of Annual Cleanups, which links to an overview and summary statistics from past years. More on Marine Debris gives additional details on the types, sources, and impacts of marine debris.
Thank you to the many volunteers who make COASTSWEEP a success each year!
