Cartons, toothbrushes and tennis balls from as far away as Australia wash up in Guernsey

  • Kate Prout meets Richard Lord, a Guernsey man proving one man's trash is another's treasure

A Guernsey man says he spends one thousand hours a year sorting through international litter that has washed up on the island's beaches.

Richard Lord from St Peter Port meticulously labels, photographs and stores the rubbish in his shed.

Among his vast collection, Richard has thousands of items including milk cartons, tennis balls and toothbrushes.

He said: "We get litter from Asia, India, the Middle East, Latin America, North America, nearly all of it has been dumped at sea from passing ships."

Some is from Australia, nearly 10,000 miles away.

One day's worth of rubbish collected by Richard from Guernsey beaches. Credit: Sealord Photography

The Channel Islands are just south of the busiest shipping lane in the world but Richard says that is no excuse for the wave of rubbish.

He added: "We're getting binbags of shipping litter washing up in Guernsey on almost a daily basis."

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, 450 million tonnes of plastic is created globally each year with just 9% being recycled.

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