Tracing beach litter sources: Drink lids tell a different story from their bottles

Water and soft drink bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sink at sea unless they contain trapped air, whereas their lids are made from polymers that float and can drift long distances. We sampled loose lids and bottles at 21 South African beaches to compare their origins. The proportions of foreign-made bottles and lids were correlated, and increased away from urban centres, indicating that much land-based litter strands close to source areas. Over 80 % of foreign-made drink bottles and 90 % of lids came from Asia, but most bottles were manufactured in China, Malaysia-Singapore and the UAE, and were dumped from ships. By comparison, most loose lids were in poor condition after being carried across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia by the South Equatorial Current. Reducing PET drink bottles at sea requires enforcement of regulations banning dumping at sea, whereas reducing their lids requires better control of littering in source countries. [Display omitted] •Proportions of locally-made bottles and lids are correlated and decrease with distance from urban centres.•This implies that most land-based litter strands close to source areas.•Most foreign drink bottles are manufactured in China; they outnumber Chinese lids 7:1.•Over 1000 lids from Indonesian drink bottles were found but no bottles.•Most foreign drink bottles are dumped from ships but most loose lids drift from SE Asia.