The Marine Conservation Society said more than 8,000 bottles were picked up during its Great British Beach Clean Up in September, up 43% on 2014.
It wants deposit return schemes, which give money back to people who return empty bottles, to encourage recycling.
More than 6,000 volunteers collected and recorded litter along 340 beaches across the UK.
The MCS said putting a charge on the bottles of up to 20p, which gets refunded when they are returned, would change behaviour, and called for the UK government to explore the potential of such a scheme.
Lauren Eyles, the charity's Beachwatch manager, said: "The bottles we find on beaches are either dropped directly on to the beach, blown from land or sea, or end up there via rivers.
"The more we use as a nation, the more we'll see ending up on our shores."
The survey also found:
All countries within the UK saw an increase except Wales, where levels dropped after a record rise the previous year, the MCS said.
England saw record levels of litter across 189 beaches, with highest levels of rubbish - averaging 5,170 items per kilometre - in the South West.
The Channel Islands had the lowest levels of litter for the UK, but rubbish still increased by a fifth (22%) compared with 2014.

The 20-year-old Slovak has yet to play for Fulham's first team, but made 17 appearances in the National League on loan at Welling last term.
Rodak, who has represented his country at youth level, will go straight into Accrington's squad for their League Two fixture against Cheltenham on Saturday.
Stanley are 20th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
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Police were called to Station Road, Wood Green, at about 03:20 BST after receiving reports of a stabbing outside the Jolly Anglers public house.
Paramedics treated the man, named by police as 33-year-old Vincent Harvey, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
No arrests have been made and the Met have appealed for witnesses.
Det Ch Insp Noel McHugh said there was "a large number of people in and around the Jolly Anglers pub at the time Vincent was stabbed".
"It is vital that anyone who saw this incident, or the events leading up to the incident, get in contact with police," he said.

Adrian Bayley was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 for killing Jill Meagher, an ABC Radio employee.
On Thursday, it was announced he had been found guilty of three more rapes, of a Dutch tourist and two sex workers.
The three trials were the subject of a suppression order to ensure fairness, but this was lifted after a verdict was returned in the third trial.
Bayley was described by a judge in 2013 as a "recidivist sex offender". He was on parole for previous rape convictions when he killed Ms Meagher.
Ms Meagher, originally from County Louth, was attacked in Melbourne in September 2012 as she walked home. Her body was discovered six days later buried on the outskirts of the city.
The new convictions relate to two attacks in 2012 and one in 2000.
All the women came forward after recognising Bayley during the investigation and subsequent court proceedings over the killing of Ms Meagher.
The defence argued that the women had wrongly identified Bayley because of his prominence in the media, but juries in three separate trials disagreed.

The 32-year-old, who earned his only cap for Wales in 2006, has spent time at eight clubs including Nottingham Forest, Yeovil and Peterborough.
"No matter what club you are at you have to strive to do the best you can and aim for the top," Davies said.
"Everyone will be thinking about promotion at this time of the year and we're no different."
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Conservationists say they found 160 plastic bottles for every mile of UK coastline cleaned last year.
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Accrington Stanley have signed goalkeeper Marek Rodak on loan from Fulham until the end of the season.
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A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death outside a busy north London pub.
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An Australian man jailed for the rape and murder of an Irish woman has been convicted of three more rapes.
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Accrington Stanley have signed former Exeter City midfielder Arron Davies on a one-year deal.