A woman holding up a piece of plastic wrapping using a litter picker to the camera. She is wearing a Marine Conservation Society vest. She is situated on a beach. The camera focus is on the wrapping making the woman blurry in the background.

Pollution

Find out how campaigning success is tackling some of the biggest threats to our ocean.

Marine pollution has been reported as one of the five main drivers of the current biodiversity crisis, threatening 37% of marine mammals with extinction.

Marine pollution is diverse, from tiny fibres which shed from clothes, to chemicals washed down the sink. Pollutants, including plastic, chemicals and bacteria travel from our towns and cities to our seas, as well as from activities directly in our ocean.

If we don’t tackle pollution at source, these highly persistent chemicals and plastics will continue to increase in our ocean causing untold damage. That's where we come in.

The scale of ocean pollution

 

11

M

Tonnes of plastic are estimated to enter the ocean every year

68

%

Of our Source to Sea Litter surveys found vapes in 2024

94

%

of UK water firms showed PFAS detected at source

 

Chemical pollution

Forever chemicals or PFAS (per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances) are a group of highly persistent chemicals which are threatening our ocean. They get their name as forever chemicals are essentially impossible to remove once they enter our environment. Find out more about them, and learn what we're doing to stop forever chemical pollution.

 

Our work on forever chemicals
The Marine Conservation Society's CEO and two members of our policy team stand outside parliament holding placards reading 'stop ocean poison'

Stop Ocean Poison campaign  |  Image credit: Marine Conservation Society/Chem Trust

Sewage and water quality

Water pollution affects the health of our ocean as well as the habitats and marine wildlife that call the ocean home. To create a healthier sea, we must improve water quality measures. Find out more about our work to tackle sewage, related debris and road run-off.

 

Our water campaigning work
Members of the Marine Conservation Society team stand with other NGOs outside Westminster holding a surf board reading 'end sewage pollution'.

End sewage pollution campaigners  |  Image credit: Good Law Project

Plastic pollution

Our ocean may appear vast but our devastating human footprint is found everywhere, with plastic found in the deepest ocean and your local beach. Find out more about single-use plastic, microplastics and how our campaigning has succeeded in banning disposable vapes and wet wipes containing plastic.

 

Our plastic campaigning work
A close up of volunteers filling a bag with plastic bottles at a Scarborough beach clean.

A beach clean in Scarborough  |  Image credit: Matthew Johnstone

Also of interest

A pod of three orcas can be seen surfcaing just above the waves. You can see the tall dorsal fin and characteristic white saddle behind the fin on two, while the third looks like a smaller juvenile.

The insidious nature of forever chemicals and their affects on wildlife
2 volunteers picking up soiled wet wipes using litter pickers

The problem with sewage pollution and plastic in wet wipes
Different types of plastic including bags, cups and straws are pictured under the ocean, highlighting the plastic pollution problem

Microplastics and their impact on our environment