Assessment of Beach Litter at the Sakumono and La Pleasure Beaches

ABSTRACT

Ghana faces a major challenge when it comes to waste management, especially in the urban areas. Population growth even makes the situation more exacerbated in the coastal urban areas. Most of the waste that is generated and lost inland end up in the coastal and marine environment when the rains fall and wash the solid wastes downstream. Some of the waste is also produced on the beaches by revelers when they use the beaches for tourist and entertainment purposes. This study was carried out on two beaches in the Greater Accra Region, namely Sakumono and La Pleasure beaches. The main objective of this study was to assess the amount of beach litter at the two beaches. A transect of 1000 m2 was used in the study. A total of 2,697 litter items were collected from the two beaches. The total weight of the litter throughout the survey was 50.07 kg from both sites. Weight of litter collected from Sakumono beach was 31.79 kg accounting for 63.49% of the total weight of litter surveyed whereas the weight of litter collected from La was 18.28 kg, also accounting for 36.51% of total litter surveyed. Plastics were found to be the most abundant both by number as well as weight. For both beaches, plastics made up 72.56% composition by number or quantity at 1975 items and 65.53% by weight at 32.81 kg. Sakumono beach was found to be more littered than La Pleasure beach. This was significant at an alpha value of 0.05 (p value = 0.02). Continuous monitoring, intensive education, and the enforcement of appropriate policy initiatives remain crucial to addressing the beach litter menace along the coasts of Ghana.