First report of quantification and classification of buried litter on the public beaches around the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

The distribution and abundance of buried litter on seventeen public beaches around the Sea of Marmara were investigated in the period of 12–28 August 2018. The mean weight of total litter was found to be 73 mg/m2 and the mean number of pieces was found to be 66.2/m2. Most of the litter on the public beaches originated from the tourism activities and plastic was the most common litter which accounted for 48.07% and 76% of the total items in terms of weight and number respectively. The abundance of debris by the total number of items was higher in Istanbul Kumburgaz beach (130.6 items/m2) followed by Istanbul Menekşe beach (117 items/m2). Balıkesir Erdek beach stood out with the least litter (25.3 items/m2). Considering the findings of the study as a potentially useful baseline for this region with a limited literature, stands out as the originality of the study. [Display omitted] •Buried litter were studied in public seventeen beaches, around the Sea of Marmara.•Plastic litter were dominant in the beaches.•In the plastic litter composition high-density polyethylene was most abundant.•As non-plastic litter Al and Zn were the most dominant metals in the beaches.•These data could potentially useful as a baseline for this poorly-studied region.