Polystyrene ban cuts marine litter

There are positive signs voluntary bans on polystyrene in consumer packaging and food products are working, with the amount counted and collected in the nation’s urban rivers and catchments halving in just 12 months.

Conservation Volunteers Australia released the interim findings in line with the #SeaToSource National Day of Action – part of CVA’s flagship marine plastic partnership with the Federal Government and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO – with events in all capital cities on Saturday 18 February.

The outcomes also send a strong message to global governments and investors ahead of the Australian Government’s Nature Positive Summit next year, particularly for a Nature Repair Market.

Overall, #SeaToSource has seen about 10,000 Australians and 50 of the nation’s largest businesses help count, collect and contain more-than 360,000 litter items – 80 per cent of it plastic – from flowing into the nation’s Great Barrier and Southern Reefs since September 2020, despite COVID and flooding.

This included nearly 50,000 pieces of polystyrene nationally (16 per cent). However, in promising signs, polystyrene fell from top spot (21 per cent) in Year 1 (Sep 2020 –Aug 2021) to fifth (10 per cent) in Year 2 (Sep 2021 – Aug 2022), with the trend continuing into Year 3 to date (1 per cent; Sep 2022 – Jan 2023).

Conservation Volunteers Australia CEO Phil Harrison said the collaboration between individuals, government, and businesses was showing real results.

“The more everyday Australians we have taking everyday actions, every day, the more we can prove to them that people can really make a difference to the world around them,” Mr Harrison said.

“Polystyrene has long been the worst offender in our waterways. To see its volume halve in just 12 months on the back of a voluntary ban suggests real progress can be achieved when government, business, science, and conservation volunteers all work towards common, common-sense goals.”

Thin plastic bags have remained steady at about 2 per cent of total waste, suggesting state-and-territory bans phased in over the past decade also continued to reduce pressure on the nation’s waterways. However, with thousands of bags still entering marine habitats, more still needs to be done.

Cigarette butts also remain a major problem – near-doubling in volume from about 8 per cent (Year 1, 5th) to 15 per cent (Year 2, 1st) of all plastics collected – replacing polystyrene atop the list.

A near-doubling of Australians turning out to volunteer their time from about 2800 in Year 1 to 4700 in Year 2 – and already another 1500+ in the first four months of Year 3 – had also helped grow the size – and integrity – of plastic and litter data provided to CSIRO across eight urban rivers nationwide to contribute to its national baseline and monitoring efforts.

The increase in participant numbers also helps the Federal Government demonstrate further delivery against its Strategy for Nature 2019 – 2030 objectives and targets, including better connecting people to nature; boosting citizen science collections; and measuring policy outcomes, as well as supporting the Albanese Government’s new Threatened Species Action Plan by ridding key habitats for threatened wildlife plants of dangerous waste and improving their biodiversity.