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Plastic litter pollution across recreational and non-recreational beaches of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
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Researchers surveyed plastic litter on ten beaches in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, finding 903 items. Tourist beaches had more litter, mostly cigarette butts and packaging, while fishing-area beaches had more fishing-gear debris. All beaches were rated extremely dirty, with single-use plastics making up most of the waste.
The world's longest unbroken natural sandy sea beach at Cox's Bazar is under constant threat from plastic litter pollution. However, the nature and extent of this pollution remain poorly quantified. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate plastic pollution patterns on ten recreational and non-recreational beaches along the Cox's Bazar coastline during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. A total of 903 plastic items belonging to 28 categories were identified. Recreational beaches accounted for approximately 71% of plastic litter abundance, with significant seasonal increases during winter. PCA and PERMANOVA confirmed significant spatial differences in plastic litter patterns between beach-use categories (F = 8.12, R2 = 0.318, p = 0.001). Cigarette butts, polythene bags, and plastic packaging materials were the most abundant litter items, whereas plastic bottles and fishing nets contributed the highest proportion by weight. Probable polymer types were inferred based on visible characteristics, physical properties, common applications, and reported polymer composition of similar plastic products. Polypropylene was the dominant polymer, while non-recreational beaches showed a substantially higher proportion of polyamide associated with fishing gear. Source-based classification revealed that tourist- and household-related plastics dominated recreational beaches, whereas fishing-related debris dominated non-recreational beaches. Single-use plastics accounted for 69.56% of plastic litter, and all surveyed beaches were classified as extremely dirty according to the estimated Clean Coast Index (CCI). These findings demonstrate that plastic pollution along the Cox's Bazar coastline is driven by tourism- and fisheries-related activities. Thus, improved waste management at recreational beaches and strengthened fishing-gear management at non-recreational beaches are essential.
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Plastic litter characteristics and pollution patterns across recreational and non-recreational beaches of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
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Researchers surveyed plastic litter on ten beaches in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, finding 903 plastic items. Tourist beaches had more litter, mostly cigarette butts and packaging, while fishing beaches had more fishing-net debris, with all beaches rated "extremely dirty" and over two-thirds of litter being single-use plastic.
An Integrated Spatial Assessment of Macro-, Meso-, and Microplastic Pollution Along Cox’s Bazar Beach in Bangladesh
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Researchers conducted the first comprehensive assessment of macro-, meso-, and microplastic pollution along the full coastline of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, sampling 23 stations across tourism, active, and less active beach zones. Plastic abundance varied significantly by zone and land use, with fragments and films as dominant types, reflecting Bangladesh's high plastic waste mismanagement rates.
Microplastic pollution in coastal Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh: Quantification, distribution, and characteristics
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This study surveyed microplastic pollution along the Cox's Bazar coastline in Bangladesh, one of the world's longest beaches, finding significant contamination in both sediments and seawater with levels varying by tidal zone and beach location. Polyethylene was the most common polymer type, and scanning electron microscopy revealed weathered particle surfaces indicating long-term environmental exposure. The findings establish a baseline for microplastic monitoring in a heavily visited coastal region with limited waste management infrastructure.
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