Alabama bin washes up on beach

A beach comber who found a rubbish bin, apparently from Alabama on his local beach, said seeing such plastic pollution was "quite upsetting".

Ryan Stalker, made the discover at Bowleaze Cove in Weymouth, on Sunday.

"I don't think people appreciate how far plastic waste is travelling," he said.

After posting about the find on Facebook, he said staff from the refuse department in Alabama had been in touch to apologise.

"When you actually have a bin which says 'Alabama' on it, I think it opens people's eyes to what is going on," he said.

The 46-year-old engineer who is also a keen underwater photographer said he wants to raise awareness of "the good and the bad" of what is happening at sea as he comes across plastic waste on a daily basis.

Stalker said he returned to the beach with his car in the early hours of Monday to remove the item, which he said is bigger than the standard UK bins and only just fitted in his car.

He currently has it at his home in Dorset, and said he was looking into ways to recycle it.

When he posted about his discovery on Facebook he said he was quickly inundated with reaction from people across the globe.

He said: "The refuse department from Alabama got in touch with me apologising for it washing up on our beach, which I thought was nice of them to do but not necessary, it's an accident."

He added that the department suspected it fell into the sea during Hurricane Sally, which hit the Southeastern state in September 2020 but has indicated that it would try and use the codes on the bin to locate its owner.

Stalker added that a TV station in the US has also been in touch with him to discuss the discovery.

"It's always fascinating to figure out where these things have come from," he said.

Stalker's discoveries have gained global attention in the past, and a photograph he took of a football covered in goose barnacles won the British Wildlife Photography Award in 2024.