The seas around Denmark are a dumping-ground for rubbish

Plastic and other refuse is becoming an increasingly common sight on the seabed

Off Løverodde beach near Kolding, a group of divers were able to collect a staggering 250 kilos of rubbish in just one afternoon.

The rubbish consisted of everything from old iron to bottles, cans and car tyres, and this is not uncommon, reports DR Nyheder.

Local diver Martin Pedersen was one of the organisers of the rubbish collecting session. “I’m really sorry to see this. It’s a problem and there’s no getting away from that,” he said.

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Pedersen added that plastic was also a major headache and that he and his colleagues come across it all the time.

New environmental awareness campaign
On the coast of west Jutland alone, around 1,000 tonnes of maritime rubbish wash up every year, according to the local branch of the international environmental organisation for municipalities, KIMO Denmark.

A large proportion of this is bottles, jerrycans, bottle caps, rope, fishing nets and bags.

The Environment and Food Ministry has just launched a new campaign under the banner ‘United for a sea without rubbish’. The campaign is designed to get tourists, boat owners, fishermen and visitors to the beach to minimise the amount of rubbish on the beaches, in harbours and in the sea.