BROUGHTON based environmental consultancy Beyondly says it is delighted that its partnership with the National Oceanography Centre will continue for another year in a project aimed at defining the impact on plastic on the world's oceans.

Last year, Beyondly, formerly Comply Direct, which helps businesses make the right environmental choices, started working with the ocean research facility on a project dedicated to protecting the world's oceans and specifically developing an understanding of the role of UK seagrasses in storing and sequestering carbon.

A Beyondly spokesperson said: "The first leg of this remarkable project began in Porthdinllaen Bay, a site in North Wales which is a Special Area of Conservation . National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) blue carbon experts collected sediment cores from this site, known for the presence of both seagrass and macroalgae.

"The second leg of this project took place at NOC’s British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility in Southampton where the metre-long sediment cores, representing thousands of years of history, were scanned, and analysed. Through laminographic imaging, NOC was able to identify changes in grain size and date the different layers of sediment from their decay rates to establish the rates of carbon sequestration.

"In Summer 2024, these critical field measurements and data will be used to build an open-source computer model and decision support tool which will identify where and how to undertake seagrass restoration with maximum benefit and chance of success."

The spokesperson added there had already been an impact from the gathered data. "This project has been contributing to marine management discussions at national and international levels, with principal investigator Dr Claire Evans presenting evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ocean on the potential for financing marine restoration. The impact of this project will be seen for years to come, as the data will be used to create evidence-based decision and inform UK policy. "

Beyondly's partnership with the National Oceanography Centre will continue throughout 2024, as they both work together to ‘define the true impact of plastic in our oceans’.

Beyondly was able to fund the project through its annual Fund for Change programme, donating five per cent of profits to charitable causes.

In November last year, it announced the giving out of grants totalling £149,000 including to Skipton Step Into Action; Share Skipton; SELFA; and Abbeyfield The Dales, as well as The UK Sepsis Trust and Yorkshire Children’s Trust.