Letter from the Chair

Last year saw immense disruption to our lives and the environment. Over the past twelve months, as Australians lived with COVID-19, the uptick in singleuse plastics including face masks, coffee cups, food delivery packaging and takeaway utensils surged.

Research revealed more than 1 in 3 Australian households self-identified as producing more packaging waste during lockdown periods compared to previous years, with more than 1 in 2 reporting they were more concerned about product packaging waste than they were in 2019.

The damage of single-use plastics left in the environment will outlive us all and action was urgently needed. Australians everywhere recognised that it was important to get involved and encouragingly, despite pandemic restrictions, we saw communities across Australia unite to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment.

Of course, Stepping Up to Clean Up goes well beyond one day. It’s an ongoing commitment to protecting our environment and looking for ways to help live more sustainably 365 days a year. Although we are best known for our national day of action with Clean Up Australia Day, we advocate that prevention is better than cure. Our rallying call, that it’s time to take responsibility for our reliance on single-use packaging and plastics and to make the right environmental choices every day is truly gaining momentum.

We can all be part of that solution by the everyday actions we take to reduce our waste. From recycling soft plastics to composting food waste or switching to a bamboo toothbrush, our Clean Up community is keen to make changes to benefit the planet and share their intentions via #StepUpToCleanUp pledges on various social media platforms. We can vote with our wallet by supporting brands which design products and packaging for re-use, longevity, the ability to be repaired and made with recycled content. The Buy Recycled portal on our website is designed to help you do just that, showcasing products and packaging made from recycled content, extending the life of resources we have already used and reducing the need to extract new ones from our precious planet.

After many years of unwavering community action to reduce plastic pollution, governments are also taking action. It was wonderful to see the Federal Government announce its first National Plastics Plan and we now have jurisdictions - SA, QLD, the ACT, WA and VIC, having either passed or having promised legislation to reduce single-use plastics. There were other heightened calls this year for more sustainable pathways for the nation, which include increased attention on 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable household packaging within the next decade.

We continue to diversify our funding and strengthen the financial position of Clean Up Australia and are so grateful for the generous donations from members of the public and the support of our dedicated partners who share our vision. Their support is vital in enabling our work and providing clean up materials and education resources to schools and community organisations free of charge all year round.

Pip Kiernan, Chair, Clean Up Australia