Effects of tobacco waste tipping on the Sefton coastal dunes (North-West England)

Abstract

Between 1956-1974, the British Nicotine Company Ltd tipped some 22,000 tonnes per year of wet tobacco waste onto the Sefton coastal sand dunes, at Formby, North-West England. The effect on the natural dune vegetation is evident by a dense coverage of non-native stinging nettles (Uritica dioica), displacing native flora species, such as sand sedge (Carex arenaria) and marram grass (Ammophilia arenaria), on this internationally-recognized calcareous dune system. In turn, this is affecting current coastal processes, as dune building has been interrupted by the presence of vegetation less capable of trapping sand than native dune species. Resultant dune deflation has caused the shoreline to migrate landwards, exposing the tobacco waste, thus creating eroding cliffs (up to 3 m high) of waste and depositing it on the beach. The National Trust advocates the wide understanding of the importance of such natural coastal processes and therefore accepts dune rollback as a positive process in tobacco waste management, rather than the costly total removal strategy.