Measuring litter distribution on UK beaches

This study proposes a set of metrics that is built upon the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient in economics to measure beach litter distribution. These metrics address the degree of litter distribution, distribution patterns as well as the causes of distribution. We analyzed a dataset that contains 10,262 surveys for 1803 beaches in the UK from 2000 to 2016. We found that litter distribution on UK beaches is variant to litter type while almost invariant to time, with plastics and potteries being the least and most concentrated, respectively. Give a certain degree of litter distribution, all beach litters except medical demonstrate remarkably symmetric distribution patterns, which are increasingly strengthened over time. Furthermore, we found that beach location has a substantial effect on the overall distribution of beach litters whereas the effects of seasonality and climatic conditions are negligible