This Sunday (5th March) is Clean Up Australia Day, when Australians everywhere head out into the community, parks, beaches, rivers, roadsides and help to reduce the litter discarded by thoughtless others.
Clean Up Australia’s 2022 National Rubbish Report shows that plastics accounted for 63% of the rubbish items removed last year, 17% higher than in 2021.
Bringing to the forefront one of the great challenges facing Australia’s recycling industry, soft plastics rose by 7%, hard plastics by 5% and polystyrene by 5% compared with 2021, with single-use plastics such as plastic bottles, takeaway containers, food packaging and lids making up 25% of all reported rubbish.
Of the 1,075 surveyed locations around the country, 46% reported rubbish was in waterways including beaches, rivers and dive sites, followed by parks (14%) and bushland (13%). Plastic litter dominated all locations, with most found in school grounds (79%), bushland (74%) and parks (60%).
But Chair of Clean Up Australia Pip Kiernan says we shouldn’t feel defeated by these statistics, but look for practical everyday ways we can all work to improve the environment and move towards a more circular economy and greater sustainability.
“I encourage all Aussies to reduce, reuse and refuse as often as they can as a simple first step we can all action”, Kiernan says.
“It’s easy to make a difference. Joining in on Clean Up Australia Day, opting for reusable shopping bags and coffee cups, avoiding single use plastics, making purchases with longevity in mind, and actively seeking out reusable and recycled packaging is a great way to start.”
Over the past 33 years, more than 20 million volunteers have donated more than 38.5 million hours to their local communities, removing hundreds of thousands of ute loads of rubbish from over 215,500 registered locations across the country.
If you want to join in the clean-up, visit the cleanupaustraliaday.org.au website to find details of local events, or register your own.
