Plastic from 1960s Canada Washes Up on Orkney Beach

Plastic bottles dating back to the 1960s and 1970s from Canada have washed up on Howar Sands beach in Sanday, Orkney. The discovery has overwhelmed local volunteers who organize beach cleaning efforts.

David Warner, a sustainability coordinator, collected only 42 plastic bottles from the shore last year. However, this year he has already found hundreds of bottles, along with an estimated 300,000 pieces of polystyrene scattered across the beach. Some bottles display logos of brands that haven't been manufactured since the 1980s.

Experts attribute the sudden increase to unusual weather patterns, particularly strong south-easterly winds that have brought this "retro rubbish" to shore. The Marine Conservation Society confirms that plastic litter can last extremely long in marine environments and travel across oceans.

The situation poses risks to wildlife, as the beach is a protected nesting site for birds. Despite the discouraging scale of the problem, Warner plans to establish an official beach cleaning group and create artistic sculptures from the collected plastic to raise awareness about ocean pollution.