2015 Clean Up Australia
ANNUAL RUBBISH REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SNAPSHOT. SITES SURVEYED RUBBISH SOURCES TOP TEN ITEMS - GROUPED DATA TOP TEN ITEMS - RAW DATA SITE TYPES REPORT METHODOLOGY RETURNED SURVEYS BY STATE GROUPED DATA (CONTINUED) MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH HISTORICAL DATA PLASTIC METAL AND ALUMINUM PAPER AND CARDBOARD MISCELLANEOUS GLASS EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE WOOD RUBBER SITE RUBBISH COMPOSITION THE GREAT NORTHERN CLEAN UP SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
1 2 3 4-5 6-7 8-9 11-12 14 15 17 18-19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 32 33
INTRODUCTION In 2015 Clean Up continued to focus community attention on "Put Yourself In The Picture" - leveraging Australian's desire to be seen taking action to remove accumulated rubbish across 6,230 Clean Up Day, 81 Great Northern Clean Up and 921 Clean Up Everyday Sites nationally. An estimated 536,423 volunteers removed around 15,914.8 tonnes of rubbish in 2015. Over the last quarter of a century, volunteers have donated more than 28.75 million hours towards caring for the environment through Clean Up Australia Day. This represents the equivalent removal of 302,213 ute loads of rubbish from 151,919 sites across the country. The Rubbish Report is a snapshot of the rubbish they removed from our parks, schools, bushland, creeks, beaches and roadways in 2015. Consistent with 2014, beverage containers and their associated rubbish have outstripped cigarette butts and their associated rubbish as the Number One rubbish group within the National Top Ten. In 2015, beverage containers and their associated rubbish represented 35.8% of plastics (34.03% in 2014), 70.7% of metals (87% in 2014) and 63.4% of glass (92% in 2014). Clean Up Day, Everyday Sites and the Great Northern Clean Up would not be possible without the generous financial support of our sponsors. Our 2015 major sponsors were the Commonwealth Bank and Shop-A-Docket. McDonald's continued their support as sponsors, Becton Dickinson, Paramount Safety Products and Look Print remained active suppliers. In 2015 we welcomed a new sponsor, the Australian Government National Landcare Programme and Storage King as a new supplier, recognising their generous donation of storage space at Woollomooloo. It is also important to recognise the vital support that Clean Up volunteers receive from the local government. In 2015, 242 councils actively supported their communities. This is the 25th Rubbish Report produced by Clean Up Australia. 1
The Rubbish Report is a snapshot of rubbish removed over a calendar year. Since 1991, the Rubbish Report has proven to be an invaluable resource in identifying trends in the types and spread of rubbish throughout Australia. It continues to demonstrate the importance of avoiding, reducing, re-using and recycling rubbish.
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS major sponsors
Sponsors
Suppliers
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1,958 End of Clean Up Reports were returned from 7,732 sites nationally. Of these 724 recorded valid data for analysis across 897 locations
New South Wales returned the highest number of valid surveys (276), followed by Queensland (152) and Victoria (131)
SITES SURVEYED Parks were the most popular survey sites in 2015, followed by residential roadways, rivers/creeks/waterways, public bushland, beaches and coastal areas, school grounds, other [non identified] locations, shopping malls and dive sites.
A total of 202,524 rubbish items were reported The content from a total of 3,096.5 bags, representing 37.66% of rubbish at survey sites were counted
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RUBBISH SOURCES Plastic was the most common item, representing 36% [30% in 2014] of all rubbish items removed. This is the 21st year that plastic has dominated the ‘Major Sources of Rubbish’. Chips and confectionery wrappers, bottle caps & lids, and PET drink containers were the top three plastic items reported. Metals held the second spot in 2015 – recording 16% of all counted rubbish. This was a 2% increase on 2014. Within this category, soft drink bottles dominated, representing 30.75% of metal rubbish reported [3.28% in 2014].
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Alcohol beverage containers came a close second at 25.48% [3.26% in 2014]. Metal bottle caps represented 14.42%. Miscellaneous items took third position in 2015 at 15%. This was 7% down on last year. The most common item reported continues to be cigarette butts reflecting 81.68% of reported items in this category. These sources were followed by paper at 13% [on par with 2014], glass at 12% [also on par with 2014], polystyrene at 5% [down 1%], wood 2% and rubber 1% [both consistent with last year].
PLASTIC 36% OF TOTAL RUBBISH COLLECTED
METALS
MISCELLANEOUS
16% OF TOTAL RUBBISH COLLECTED
15% OF TOTAL RUBBISH COLLECTED 5
Top Ten Items Grouped Data
24%
24%
BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
7%
NON FOOD PACKAGING
CONFECTIONARY WRAPPERS
3%
OTHER NON IDENTFIED ITEMS
5 % PLASTIC BAGS
2%
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
17%
FOOD PACKAGING
10%
BEVERAGE RUBBISH
3%
SANITARY ITEMS
2%
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS 6
TOP TEN RUBBISH ITEMS
GROUPED DATA The Top Ten Grouped items represented 97% of all rubbish surveyed in 2015. (84.37% in 2014.
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL RUBBISH
Consistent with the last two years, beverage containers and their associated rubbish at 34%, remain the Number One item within the grouped national data. NUMBER OF ITEMS REPORTED
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Top Ten Items Raw Data
12% 6
CIGARETTE BUTS
%
5%
GLASS ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE BOTTLES
PLASTIC CONFECTIONARY WRAPPERS
4%
PET DRINK CONTAINERS
4%
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CANS
3%
SMALL PIECES OF PAPER
5%
SOFT DRINK CANS
5%
PLASTIC BOTTLE CAPS AND LIDS
3%
PIECES OF GLASS
3%
RUBBISH/ GARBAGE BAGS
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TOP TEN RUBBISH ITEMS
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL RUBBISH
RAWÂ DATA Top Ten Raw Items represent 47.55% of all The reported rubbish for the year. (54% in 2014) Within the raw data Top Ten, beverage container rubbish represented 27% of the count (20% in 2014). Eight of the Top Ten Raw item count are recyclable. In 2014 this figure was 9/10 - cigarette butts are no longer recyclable due to the closure of the recycling program when the tobacco industry withdrew it's funding.
NUMBER OF RAW DATA ITEMS COLLECTED BY STATE
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SITE TYPES While parks were the most popular site surveyed in 2015, outdoor transport sites recorded the highest average number of items at 604. This was a dramatic decrease of 8,606 and more in line with the 2013 experience. Three other sites recorded increases in their average item count for 2015. Parks recorded an increase of 65 items per site (217 in 2014), the average count for rivers/creeks/waterways rose by 41 items per site. School grounds counts rose significantly - 250 in 205 versus 67 in 2014. All other Site Types recorded a reduced average item count this year. Roadways decreased their average item count to 327 across 174 locations (458 across 132 in 2014), other (unidentified site types) dropped by an average of 93 items per site (329 in 2014), and beach/coastal areas decreased their average count to 357 across 99 sites in 2015, continuing the trend reported in 2014. Bushland average count deceased to 301 across 11 surveyed sites. (323 across 89 sites in 2014) dive sites' average decreased from 257 across 3 sites to 122 across 2 sites and shops/malls dropped to 336 items across 25 sites versus 543 across 18 sites. Interesting items found in 2015 included illegally dumped construction debris; household furniture and commercial quantities of shopping dockets; a pair of gold stilettos; sporting gear, including a golf buggy and clubs; wine glasses belonging to a local restaurant; drug paraphernalia; truck and car tyres; shopping trolleys; equipment belonging to a local Power Authority [notified and retrieved]; dead animals; a drone; street signs; a plastic children’s cubby house; sex toys; wallet complete with credit cards [handed in to local police]; and assorted clothing including a full business suit bundled into a cylinder and tied with a necktie. 11
SITE TYPES GRAPHS AND DATA
ITEM COUNT BY SITE TYPE
AVERAGE ITEM COUNT AND NUMBER OF SITES
PERCENTAGE OF NATIONAL WASTE
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REPORT METHODOLOGY The figures presented in the Rubbish Report are based on a sample of Clean Up Sites, where data is collected by our dedicated volunteers. Rubbish Report Survey Forms are issued in Clean Up kits as part of the End of Clean Up Report. In 2015 the Report was also offered as an on-line option, attracting 58 respondents. The survey requires those taking part to identify and count a proportion of the rubbish removed from their site. Volunteers are asked to survey one in five bags of rubbish removed, with a maximum of six bags surveyed per site. However, a number of site coordinators survey a greater proportion. In 2015, volunteers were again asked to separate their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable items, with the provision of ‘yellow’ and ‘white’ bags. The intention is to encourage recycling of rubbish where possible. Volunteers are asked to capture a representative sample from both types of bags. Each site surveyed is classified by the category that best describes its location. The categories are: beaches/coastal, outdoor transport areas, parks, public bushland, river/creek, roadway, school grounds, shop/mall and other. The Rubbish Report survey form lists a total of 82 specific waste items grouped by type of source material, with 11 'other' categories in each section for those items which do not fit easily within the list. ‘Other’ items are carefully analysed to capture a numeric value. Source categories are: plastic (further divided into plastic bags, plastic bottles/ containers and plastic miscellaneous), polystyrene, glass, rubber, paper/cardboard, metal/aluminium (further divided into metal/aluminium cans and metal/aluminium miscellaneous), wood and miscellaneous. The Rubbish Report is a snapshot of information to show trends over time of rubbish removed at Clean Up sites during Clean Up Australia Day, the Great Northern Clean Up and Everyday Clean Up sites. It is not intended to be a definitive survey representing all rubbish found in all Australian environments. 14
RETURNED SURVEYS BYÂ STATE The 'Returned Valid Surveys by State' chart shows the number of valid Rubbish Report surveys received from each State. New South Wales returned the highest number of valid surveys [276], Queensland returned the second highest number [152] and Victoria [131].
The 'Returned Valid Surveys by Site Type' chart shows the number of valid Rubbish Report surveys received from each site type. Of the 724 valid surveys returned, the most surveyed site type, Parks made up 22% of all sites, while the least surveyed site type, dive sites made up less than 0.1% of all sites. 15
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TOP TEN RUBBISH ITEMS GROUPED DATA
The chart above shows the Top Ten rubbish items by Grouped Data, displayed here as a percentage of each. Grouped data made up 97% of all rubbish reported. Consistent with 2013 and 2014, beverage containers and their associated rubbish have topped the grouped data count making up 36% of all rubbish counted. Non-food packaging includes unidentified plastic packaging, cigarette lighters, non-PET containers, automotive oil, laundry/cleaning containers, plastic crates, paper bags, boxes, cigarette packets, wine casks, small and large pieces of paper, aerosol cans, 44 gallon drums, paint tins and cigarette butts [over 81% of items reported in this category] Chips/confectionary wrappers remained consistent. Plastic bags are back in the Top Ten count – representing 14% of all plastic items and 5% of all rubbish recorded this year. 17
MAJOR SOURCES OFÂ RUBBISH
PLASTIC Over the entire 25 years of Clean Up Australia Day, plastics have remained the dominant waste item found. This year, plastics made up 36% of all rubbish removed by volunteers (30% in 2014)
METAL AND ALUMINIUM In 2015 metals were the second largest category representing 16% of all rubbish items. Beverage containers and their caps (alcoholic and soft drink) represented 70.6 of all metal rubbish
MISCELLANEOUS Cigarette butts continue to be the largest miscellaneous waste item found, repressing 81.68% of all miscellaneous items. This was a decrease of 8.2% over 2014. Other miscellaneous items of significance included ceramics, items and clothing and food scraps.
PAPER Paper represented 13% of all waste removed, on par with last year. Paper food packaging represented 20% in 2015, down 24% on last year. Paper napkins and tissues were the single most reported paper item at 19%, making up 82.4 of rubbish categorised as sanitary items. 18
GLASS Glass reported in 2015 was on par with 2014. Alcohol and soft drink bottles were once again the dominant form of glass, making up 96.6% of the total (92% in 2014). Broken glass represented 25.4% of all glass reported (21.2% in 2014)
EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE Expanded polystyrene represented 5% of rubbish removed in 2015 (6% in 2014). Of the total polystyrene items food packaging made up 49.7%. Fast food containers took out the single item top spot at 32.4% closely followed by small pieces at 31/4%
WOOD At 2% wood was consistent with 2014. Ice cream sticks continue to top the wood table @ 36.9%, down 3.1% on last year, followed by construction waste at 33.3% [up 11%].
RUBBER Rubber remains the smallest category of waste at 1%. The most significant rubber item found was thong/shoes at 26% [23.6% last year] followed by tyres, which accounted for 24% of all rubber items [33% in 2014] removed. 19
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HISTORICAL DATA
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH ANALYSIS OF EACH CATEGORY PLASTICS
Made from non-renewable oil based resources, plastics removed by Clean Up volunteers are not biodegradable and if left would, in situ, survive in the environment for hundreds of years. At best, plastic breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces – which is actually a worse environmental outcome, with smaller pieces entering the food chain earlier. In 2015 plastic was once again the dominant waste type reported by volunteers. Rating at 36% of all rubbish removed, plastics represented 69,557 surveyed items. A total of 30 different forms of plastic waste are categorised in the Rubbish Survey. They have been regrouped consistent with Top Ten Grouped data for the purposes of this graph. Beverage containers and their associated rubbish ranked #1 reflecting 35.8% of all plastic items removed. Beverage rubbish came in at 20.9%, closely followed by containers at 14.9%. Food packaging, including confectionery wrappers, represented 26.5%, a 3.75% increase on 2014. Plastic bags were reported as 14% of rubbish removed this year. Other packaging, nonidentified items, toys, construction and sanitary materials represented 23.6% of all reported plastics.
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH METALÂ ANDÂ ALUMINIUM
As a percentage of all rubbish removed by volunteers in 2015, metals were 2% up on 2014. Beverage containers continue to be the dominant sources of metal waste. Soft drink, alcohol containers, their caps and lids represent 70.7% of all metal waste removed [63.5% in 2014]. The next most significant single item type was soft drink cans at 30.8%, followed by alcoholic beverage cans at 25.5%, and bottle caps at 14.45%. Confectionery wrappers decreased to 11.8% [18.8% in 2014] 30,206 metal items were recorded in 2015.
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH PAPER AND CARDBOARD
26,104 paper and cardboard items were counted in 2015. The majority of paper waste removed was again ‘Small Paper’ at 20.5% [down 7.5% on 2014]. Cumulatively non-food packaging is a key source of paper rubbish made up of bags, boxes, cigarette packets, large and small pieces of paper and wine casks. Food packaging - paper cups, drink cartons, milk cartons, egg cartons and fast food packaging constituted 26.2 % of all paper surveyed [36.8% in 2014]. Cigarette packets were the fourth most reported single paper/cardboard item [2,325 items]. This is a decrease of 5.4% over last year.
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH
MISCELLANEOUS
28,262 miscellaneous items were recorded in 2015 surveys. This is a decrease of 14,705 over the previous year. Cigarette butts continue to dominate this category – representing 82% - shown as non-food packaging in the graph. Household items took out second spot in 2015 [1,955 items], followed by clothing [928 items] and miscellaneous other items [863 items]. E-waste items increased in 2015, surveys reporting 291 items, [112 in 2014].
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH
GLASS
In 2015, glass accounted for 12% of surveyed items, on par with 2014. Whole beverage containers accounted for 71.3% of glass counted in 2015. [70.9% in 2014] Broken glass accounted for 25.4% of rubbish reported, up 4.1% on last year. Volunteers counted 24,286 glass items in their 2015 Rubbish Surveys.
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH EXPANDEDÂ POLYSTYRENE
Expanded polystyrene accounted for 5% of the rubbish removed in 2015, a 1% decrease on the previous year. Expanded polystyrene is categorised separately from all other plastics due to the unique environmental hazards it poses. Composed of around 95% air, polystyrene is highly mobile with the potential to travel long distances. Its soft structure means it’s likely to fragment into pieces and can harm wildlife upon ingestion. The high likelihood of breaking into smaller pieces can be seen with 31.5% of all expanded polystyrene found being either partially or completely fragmented. Food packaging, comprising fast food containers, cups/plates and pieces accounted for 81% of reported rubbish. Other packaging represented 16.4%. Volunteers recorded a total 10,627 items of polystyrene. .
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH
WOOD
At 2% of reported items, wood was the second least likely rubbish type reported in 2015. Consistent with previous years, ice cream sticks were the most widely reported item accounting for 36.96% of all wood items found [40.4% in 2014]. Construction materials represented 46.8% of surveyed items this year, a 24.3% increase over 2014. These were followed by bottle corks at 12.5% [13.4% in 2014]. Surveys reported 3,382 wood items nationally.
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MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH
RUBBER
In 2015 rubber accounted for 1% of rubbish reported – on par with 2014. Clothing – thongs/shoes and gloves were the most common items representing 45.2% of reported rubber. Tyre counts reduced to 24.3% [33% in 2014]. A total of 2,446 rubber items were recorded in 2015 surveys.
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SITE RUBBISH COMPOSITION
Plastics were the dominant material removed by volunteers, averaging 32.6% across all site types. This is a 1.43% decrease on 2014. School grounds topped the list of average item count of plastics, followed by other [non-identified sites] rivers/creeks and beach/coastal areas. Paper and cardboard, with an average of 15.4% [13.2 in 2014] are most likely to be found at dive sites, outdoor transport areas and roadways. Miscellaneous items averaged 14.4% [16.97% in 2014] across all sites, with the highest counts being at shops/malls outdoor transport sites and in parks. Metals, with an average of 14.2% [14.06% in 2014] were predominantly found in bushland, on roadways and in parks. Glass, which averaged 13.5% [12.15% in 2014] across all sites, was predominantly found at outdoor transport sites, on roadways and, alarmingly, on beaches and coastal areas. Polystyrene averaged 7.1% [7.05% in 2014] across all sites. Dive sites topped the average list, followed by rivers/creeks and bushland. Wood with an average of 1.5% [1.26% last year] in the form of icecream sticks was most likely to be reported from schools and parks, followed by larger pieces in other and beach/coastal locations. Bushland was the main site at which rubber was reported [average 1.4% - 1.25 last year]. 30
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THE GREAT NORTHERN CLEAN UP In response to local community and government feedback that March is not a great time to be working in the tropical sun, The Great Northern Clean Up was piloted in 2009. Since then an estimated 26,398 volunteers have removed around 1,584 tonnes of rubbish from 717 registered sites. In 2015 the event took place during the month of September. Across Australia, a total of 8,058 volunteers had already removed around 624.36 tonnes of rubbish from 258 sites between the end of March and that month of action. During September an additional 2,530 volunteers removed an estimated 196 tonnes of rubbish from 81 sites across northern Western Australia, the Territory and Queensland. State by state volunteers in 2015 achieved: NT: 62 sites, approximately 3,869 volunteers, estimated 136.4 tonnes of rubbish removed. QLD: 213 sites, approximately 10,780 volunteers, an estimated 468.6 tonnes of rubbish removed. WA: 65 sites, approximately 2,507 volunteers, estimated 143 tonnes of rubbish removed. Congratulations to all of our most northern volunteers and the squads of Green Nomads who have put themselves in the picture in 2015. A special thank you to the Councils who worked with us in supporting all of their efforts. 32
Thank You
TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS
Major Sponsors
COMMONWEALTH BANK SHOP-A-DOCKET Sponsors MCDONALDS AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT NATIONAL LANDCARE PROGRAMME
Suppliers
PARAMOUNT SAFETY PRODUCTS [GLOVES] LOOK PRINT [SIGNAGE] BECTON DICKINSON [SHARPS CONTAINERS] STORAGE KING
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CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA 25th ANNUAL RUBBISH REPORT 2015 34