Linking social drivers of marine debris with actual marine debris on beaches

► We detected significantly less litter on Tasmanian beaches than previous studies. ► 77.5% of the detected litter was land-sourced, with hard plastics dominating. ► Beach urbanisation, coastline and access points did not influence levels of debris. ► Seventy-five percentage of participants surveyed stated that they do not litter when visiting the beach. ► Younger participants and males admit to littering more than other participants.