In preparation for the projects second NEO Terra exhibition in May at An Talla Solais Gallery in Ullapool, I have begun collecting sand samples and plastiglomerates from beaches along the NW Highland coast.
Snapshot photographs give an insightful picture of whats occurring on our beaches and in our seas. To expand this information I am asking followers of the project to keep a look out for plastiglomerates and to tweet images with #plastiglomerate with the name of the beach they were found on to @LittoralArt .
Identification: Plastiglomerates are lumps of burnt plastic litter, that has melted and bonded with natural beach materials.
They are often highly colourful just like the plastic objects they once were , but most fade to look deceptively like the rocks and pebbles around them . They can take a lot of looking for, a give away sign is that they are much lighter than similar size stones and relatively warm to touch.
I am hoping that fellow MCS beach watchers engaged with monitoring beaches and all those involved with marine plastic campaigns eg the #2minutebeachclean and the #Nurdlehunt will join in exchanging information to help us build an increasingly comprehensive documentation of the forms of plastic in the marine and coastal environment.
If any followers along the Scottish coastlines particularly in the NW highlands and the Western Isles find stretches of beaches with lots of plastiglomerates please contact me so I can try to arrange to pick them up to use in the exhibition.
Over the next 10 days I’m visiting 12 beaches between Lochinver and Plockton and I’m inviting people to join me on Sat 4th Feb at Badentarbet beach 11am- 1pm; Friday 10th February at Ullapool (pier west side) 2-3.30pm; at Gairloch (meet at the Museum) Sat 2-3.30pm. If the weather forecast is bad please check on line www.littoralartproject.com or ring 0797 7997605, please dress for winter conditions .
littoral: sci-art project 
how do the plasticglomerates get burnt- what are they a product of..tks Sarah
Hi Sarah
Thanks for asking the question. Plastiglomerates are the formed mainly when people on beaches burn plastic litter, usually this happens in remote coastal areas that suffer severe volumes of beach litter that reoccurs. As retrieving the litter is physically very difficult without road access, burning is used as a way of controlling and reducing the litter.Unfortunately burning plastic is extremely dangerous both to the person burning the litter and to the environment. I will be writng a detailed post about plastiglomerates on the blog in March to accompany the launch of my Terra Nova animation on Vimeo, which explains the making of the Plastiglomerates. Meantime I hope this gives you some idea. Regards Julia