Volunteers from a range of organisations and the general public are struggling to clean up millions of plastic beads which have washed up on the beach at Camber Sands, a popular tourist destination on the south coast of England. The beads, which cover about 2.5 km of the 5 km-long beach first appeared on Thursday 6 November 2025, and have been identified as biobeads, a type of plastic pellet used in wastewater treatment plants.
Biobeads are typically about 5 mm in diameter, and have a rough surface to promote the growth of Bacteria, which aid the water treatment process. Typically wastewater is passed through large tanks containing millions of such beads, allowing the Bacteria growing on them to filter out nutrients. However, when released into the environment, this large surface are also serves as an ideal growing space for marine Algae, which makes the beads resemble a food item to many marine Animals, according to environmental campaign group Strandliners. Once such beads are ingested, they are more-or-less impossible for most Animals to expel, blocking the consumers digestive tract and killing them.
While the source of the beads is unclear, local MP Helena Dollimore, who has been taking part in the cleanup efforts, has contacted Southern Water, the company responsible for water treatment in the area (and who have been repeatedly fined for discharging untreated sewage), requesting an explanation for the event. Southern Water has stated that it is cooperating with an investigation by the Environment Agency and Rother District Council, and that its own investigations have found that water quality at Camber Sands has been unaffected by the presence of the beads.
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