RUBBISH REPORT

2014

THANKS to our Sponsors and Supporters

Table Of ContentsINTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04· Sites Surveyed· Rubbish Sources

TOP TEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06

SITE TYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08· Most Surveyed

METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09

RETURNED VALID SURVEYS BY STATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

RETURNED VALID SURVEYS BY SITE TYPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

TOP TEN RUBBISH ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

HISTORICAL COMPARISON TRENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14· Plastic· Miscellaneous Items· Metal and Aluminium· Paper and Cardboard · Glass· Expanded Polystyrene· Wood· Rubber

SITE RUBBISH COMPOSITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

THE GREAT NORTHERN CLEAN UP 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

03

Introduction

In 2014 Clean Up focused community

attention on ‘Put Yourself in the Picture’ –

leveraging Australian’s desire to be seen

taking action to remove accumulated

rubbish across 6,346 Clean Up Day, 66

Great Northern Clean Up [north of the

Tropic of Capricorn] and 320 Everyday

Clean Up sites nationally.

An estimated 493,435 volunteers removed

around 14,784 tonnes of rubbish in 2014. Over

the last quarter of a century volunteers have

donated more than 27.2 million hours towards

caring for the environment through Clean Up

Australia Day, by removing the equivalent of

288,650 ute loads of rubbish from 145,754

sites across the country.

This Rubbish Report is a snapshot of the

rubbish they removed from our parks, schools,

bushland, creeks, beaches and roadways in

2014.

Consistent with 2013, beverage containers

and their associated rubbish have outstripped

cigarette butts and their associated rubbish as

the Number One rubbish group within the

National Top 10.

In 2014 beverage containers represented

34.05% of plastics [47.8 in 2013], 87% of

metals [69.5% in 2013] and 92% of glass [an

increase of 16% over last year].

Clean Up Day, Everyday sites and the Great

Northern Clean Up would not be possible

without the generous financial support of our

sponsors. Our 2014 major sponsor was the

Commonwealth Bank. McDonald’s, and

Qantas continued their support as sponsors,

Shop-A-Docket, News Corporation, Becton

Dickinson, Look Print and Paramount Safety

Products remained active suppliers.

It is also important to recognise the vital

support that Clean Up volunteers receive from

local government. In 2014, 368 Councils

actively supported their communities.

This is the 24th Rubbish Report produced by

Clean Up Australia.

04 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Rubbish Report is asnapshot of rubbishremoved on Clean UpAustralia Day.Since 1991, the RubbishReport has proven to bean invaluable resource inidentifying trends in thetypes and spread ofrubbish throughoutAustralia.It continues todemonstrate theimportance of avoiding,reducing, re-using andrecycling rubbish.

rubbish items were reported

194,137

PLASTICrepresented 30% of all rubbish

05

Sites Surveyed• 1,875 End of Clean Up Reports were returned from 6,732 sites

nationally. Of these 551 recorded valid data for analysis

• A total of 194,137 rubbish items were reported

• Content from a total of 2,400 bags, representing 39.45% of rubbish

at survey sites was counted

• New South Wales (NSW) returned the highest number of valid

surveys (261), followed by Queensland (142) and Victoria (134)

• Parks were the most popular survey sites in 2014, followed by

residential roadways, rivers/creeks/waterways, beaches and

coastal areas, bushland and other [non identified] locations.

Rubbish SourcesPlastic was the most common item, representing 30% [36% in 2013] of

all rubbish items removed.

This is the 20th year that plastic has dominated the ‘Major Sources of

Rubbish’.

Chips and confectionery wrappers, PET drink containers, bottle caps &

lids, were the top three plastic items removed.

Miscellaneous items held the second spot in 2014 – recording 22% of

all rubbish reported. This was an 8% increase on 2013. Within this

category, cigarette butts dominated, representing 19.93% of all rubbish

reported [11% in 2013]. This could be due to a focus by volunteers in

removing butts due to the potential to recycle via a collection process

introduced in 2014.

Metals took third position in 2014 at 14%. This was 1% down on last

year. The most common metal items were soft drink and alcoholic

beverage containers, representing 3.28 and 3.26 percent of all reported

rubbish.

These sources were followed by paper at 13% [consistent with 2013],

glass at 12% [down 2% on 2013], polystyrene at 6% [5% last year],

wood 2% and rubber 1% [both consistent with 2013].

06 TOP TEN

BEVERAGECONTAINERS

11%

7%

SMALL PIECESOF PAPER

GARBAGERUBBISH BAGS

22% 8%4%

3%

3%

1%

CIGARETTEBUTTS

FAS

T F

OO

DP

AC

KA

GIN

G

ALL

C

ON

FEC

TIO

NE

RY

WR

AP

PE

RS

POLYSTYRENE PIECES

BEVERAGECONTAINERRUBBISH2

3

1

4

9

8

7

6

5

RUBBISH ITEMS Clean Up Australia Day 2014 Grouped data 2014

as a percentage of allrubbish were:

THE TOP 10

1%P

LAS

TIC

PA

CK

AG

ING

25%

MISCELLANEOUSITEMS

10

0707

2

3

1

4

9

8

7

6

5

10

• The Top Ten grouped

items represent 84.37% of

all rubbish surveyed in

2014

• Top Ten raw data

represents 54% of all

reported rubbish for the

year [73% in 2013]

• Consistent with 2013,

beverage containers and

their associated rubbish at

36% have outstripped

cigarette butts as the

Number 1 item within the

Grouped National Top 10.

Within the raw data Top

10, beverage container

rubbish represented 20%

of the count

• Nine of the TopTen items arenow recyclable

• All Top Ten items are

packaging related

• Five of the Top Ten raw

data items were related to

beverage containers

TOP TEN RUBBISH ITEMS (RAW DATA)

Top 10 Item Description Percentage

1 Cigarette butts 19.93

2 Glass alcoholic beverage bottles 5.40

3 Plastic chips and confectionery wrappers 4.65

4 PET drink containers 4.03

5 Plastic bottle caps and lids 4.02

6 Small pieces of paper 3.70

7 Metal soft drink bottle 3.28

8 Metal alcoholic beverage 3.26

9 Polystyrene pieces 2.97

10 Metal foil/confectionery wrappers 2.65

08 SITE TYPES

Site TypesAUSTRALIA

Most Surveyed Site Types

Site type Number of sites Number of items found

% Of states total waste

Average number of items per site

While parks were the most popular site surveyed in 2014, the two outdoor transport

sites recorded the highest average number of rubbish items @ 9,210. This was a

dramatic increase of 8,217 over 2013 when the average count was 993 across 14

sites.

Three other site types recorded increases in their average rubbish item count for

2014:

• Parks recorded a modest increase from 211 across 246 sites to 217 across 156

sites

• Roadways increased their average item count to 458 across 132 locations [436

across 204 in 2013]

• Shops/malls rose to 542 items across 18 sites versus 460 across 28 sites

All other site types recorded a reduced average item count this year:

• Rivers/creeks recorded a modest decrease of 11 across 113 sites @ 278 items.

Count in 2013 was 289 across 148 sites

• Beach/coastal areas decreased their average count to 405 across 94 sites in

2014; last year the count was 656 items across 105 sites

• Bushland average count decreased to 323 across 89 surveyed sites [341 across

109 sites in 2013]

• School Grounds recorded an average of 67 across 46 sites versus 230 across

41 sites last year

• Dive sites average decreased from 8,751 from 1 site to 257 across 3 sites.

Interesting items found in 2014 included assorted construction debris, much of

which was usable; decorations from a wedding recently held near the site; motor

cycle trousers; one very quiet black hen; a walking frame; iphone and headsets; a

wallet containing credit cards [dutifully handed over to the police]; drug

paraphernalia; a Christmas tree sans decorations; fire extinguishers; various items

of furniture; bedding; and oversized tyres.

Parks 156 33,895.5 14 217

Suburban Roadways 132 60,439.0 25 458

River/Creek/Waterways 113 31,385.1 13 278

Beach/Coastal 94 38,095.9 16 405

Public Bushland 89 28,708.0 12 323

Other 52 17,125.0 7 329

School Grounds 46 3,077.0 1 67

Shops/malls 18 9,756.9 4 542

Dive Site 3 770.0 0 257

Outdoor Transport 2 18,419.9 8 9,210

1. PARKS

2. ROADWAYS

3. RIVER / CREEK /

WATERWAY

4. BEACH/

COASTAL

5. PUBLIC

BUSHLAND

6. OTHER

7. SCHOOL

GROUNDS

8. SHOPS/MALLS

9. DIVE SITES

10. OUTDOOR

TRANSPORT

0909

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 2014 the Report was also offered as

an on-line option, attracting 30 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 2014, 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 record a representative sample

from both types of bags.

We introduced the option of separating cigarette

butts for recycling this year. While volunteer

response to the concept was enthusiastic,

feedback encouraged us to refine the collection

mechanism to make it easier to use on site.

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.

10 RETURNED VALID SURVEYS

NSW

QLD

VIC

SA

WA

TAS

ACT

NT

Waterways/Water storage

Parks

Beach/Coastal

Roadway

Bushland

School Grounds

Outdoor Transport

Shops/malls

Dive Site

Other

River/Creek/

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

0 50 100 150 200

113

156

94

132

89

46

2

18

3

52

261

142

134

68

55

29

14

2

Returned valid surveys by stateThe ‘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 [261], Queensland returned the second highest number

[142] and Victoria [134]

Returned valid surveys by sItesThe ‘Returned Valid Surveys by Site Type’ chart shows the number of valid Rubbish

Report surveys received from each site type. Of the 929 valid surveys returned, the

most surveyed site type parks, made up 27.6% of all sites, while the least surveyed

site type, dive sites made up less than 0.1% of all sites.

Beverage containers

Cigarette butts

Beverage containerrubbish

Fast food packaging

All confectionary wrappers

Small piecesof paper

Polystyrene pieces

Garbage rubbishbagsOther miscellaneousitems

Plastic packaging

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

8th

9th

10th

7th

1111

The TOP TEN Rubbish Items

25%

22%11%

8%

7%

4%3%

3%1%1%

The chart above shows the Top Ten rubbish items, displayed

here as a percentage of each.

Consistent with 2013, beverage containers and their associated

rubbish have outstripped cigarette butts as the Number 1

grouped item within the National Top 10.

In 2014 beverage containers and their associated rubbish

made up 36% of all rubbish counted.

Within the Top 10, beverage rubbishrepresented 43% of the count.

Cigarette butts rose by 9%

Chips/confectionary wrappers remained consistent.

Fast food packaging represented just over 8% of reported

rubbish.

12 MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH

Major Sources Of Rubbish

Summary

Plastics30%

22%

2%

14%

13%

1%

12%6%

Miscellaneous

Wood

Metal

Paper

Rubber

Glass

Polystyrene

PLASTIC

Over the entire 24 years of Clean Up Australia Day,

plastics have remained the dominant waste item

found. This year, plastics made up 30% of all rubbish

removed by volunteers [36% in 2013].

MISCELLANEOUS

Cigarette butts continue to be the largest

miscellaneous waste item found, representing 90% of

all miscellaneous items. This was an increase of 5%

over 2013. Other miscellaneous items of significance

included food scraps, clothing and unidentified items.

METAL AND ALUMUNIUM

In 2014 metals were the third largest category,

representing 14% of all rubbish items. Beverage

containers and their caps [alcoholic and soft drink]

represented 63.5% of all metal rubbish.

PAPER

Paper represented 13% of all waste removed,

consistent with 2013. Food packaging represented

44% in 2014, down 7% on last year. Small pieces of

paper was again the single most reported paper item

at 27.9%, up by 8.5% on 2013.

GLASS

Glass dropped from third place in 2013 [down 2%].

Alcohol and soft drink bottles were once again the

dominant form of glass, making up 92% of the total

[76.2% in 2013]. Broken glass represented 21.2% of

all glass reported [19.8% in 2013].

EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE

Expanded polystyrene represented 6% of rubbish

removed in 2014 – up 1% on the previous year. Of

the total polystyrene items, food packaging made up

32% [a decrease of 12% on last year]. Small pieces

took out the single item top spot at 53.6% [up17.6%],

with packaging reflecting 14.4% of polystyrene

surveyed [18% in 2013].

WOOD

At 2% wood was consistent with 2013. Ice cream

sticks continue to top the wood table @ 40%, down

7% on last year, followed by construction waste

[22.5%] and small pieces of wood @ 18%

[construction and small pieces both = 19% in 2013].

RUBBER

In 2013 rubber was the smallest category of waste at

1% and remains in this position in 2014. The most

significant rubber item found was tyres, which

accounted for 33% of all rubber items [31% in 2013]

removed followed by thongs/shoes @ 23.6% [29% in

2013].

The ‘Major Sources of Rubbish’ chart

below shows the types of rubbish

surveyed along with their proportion

of the total rubbish.

13

Historical Comparison The following table shows the historical change in the percentage of each rubbish type reported by volunteers. Beginning in 1991, the graph demonstrates the composition of rubbish removed across Australia.

Year Plastics Foam/ Polystyrene Glass Rubber Paper Metals Wood Misc. Total

Items

1991 35.0 8.6 14.4 1.5 13.6 14.3 2.8 9.6 100.01992 26.8 9.5 17.1 1.2 24.9 11.9 3.7 4.8 100.01993 40.8 7.7 13.3 1.0 18.9 13.9 1.7 2.8 100.01994 41.4 6.3 13.0 0.7 21.6 12.3 2.0 2.6 100.01995 31.2 4.0 10.3 0.7 24.9 18.1 3.0 7.8 100.01996 33.4 8.7 10.1 1.3 19.9 13.6 1.8 11.2 100.01997 27.0 7.5 14.7 1.0 18.3 17.9 2.3 11.2 100.01998 29.1 6.6 13.4 1.2 19.5 14.5 2.4 13.3 100.01999 36.0 6.8 12.3 1.4 15.0 13.6 1.9 13.0 100.02000 32.1 4.9 10.1 1.2 15.2 19.1 2.5 14.9 100.02001 33.7 4.8 12.1 1.2 13.8 15.2 2.0 17.2 100.02002 33.4 6.9 11.8 1.2 14.1 14.1 2.3 16.2 100.02003 36.0 3.5 11.8 1.3 17.7 15.2 1.7 12.7 100.02004 37.3 4.8 11.8 1.0 12.7 13.5 1.9 17.0 100.02005 32.0 5.0 14.0 1.0 15.0 12.0 2.0 19.0 100.02006 33.7 5.2 11.7 1.8 15.9 13.2 2.1 16.4 100.02007 33.1 4.4 15.5 2.3 15.1 13.4 1.8 14.4 100.02008 31.7 4.8 13.1 1.7 12.6 14.6 3.8 17.7 100.02009 28.5 3.5 16.4 1.4 12.7 17.5 2.2 17.8 100.02010 31.3 7.7 10.5 1.1 14.7 12.4 1.1 21.2 100.02011 32.0 3.9 14.0 1.2 11.3 14.2 1.5 22.0 100.02012 38.3 4.9 13.3 1.7 11.2 15.7 1.4 13.5 100.0

2014 30.1 5.6 12.1 1.3 13.3 14.0 1.5 22.1 100.02013 36.0 5.4 13.7 1.2 12.8 15.4 1.5 14.0 100.0

YOY +/- % –16% 4% –12% 8% 4% –9% 0% 58%

5 Year Rolling Average 33.5 5.5 12.7 1.3 12.7 14.3 1.4 18.6 100.0

Vs Rolling Average –10% 2% –5% 0% 5% –2% 8% 19%

10 Year Rolling Average

32.7 5.0 13.4 1.5 13.5 14.2 1.9 17.8 100.0

Trends

14 MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH

SERIES 1

0 3000 6000 9000 12000 15000

Beverage Rubbish

Beverage Containers

Plastic Bags

Chips & Confectionery

Food Packaging

Packaging

Other Items

Toys & Sporting

Other Bottles

Cigarette Lighters

Sanitary Items

13079

11614

14727

7828

5498

4062

5474

807

944

566

304

Major Sources of RubbishAnalysis of Each Category

Plastics are made from non-renewable oil based

resources. Plastics removed on Clean Up Australia Day

are not biodegradable and would, if left in situ, survive in

the environment for hundreds of years. At best, plastic

breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces – which is

actually a worse environmental outcome, with smaller

pieces entering the food chain earlier.

In 2014 plastic was once again thedominant waste type reported byvolunteers. Rating at 30% of all rubbishremoved, plastics represented 86,906surveyed items.

A total of 29 different forms of plastic waste are

categorised in the rubbish survey, they have been

regrouped for the graph.

Beverage containers and their associated rubbish ranked

#1 reflecting 42.2% of all plastic items removed. Beverage

rubbish came in at 22.3%, just behind plastic bags at 25%.

Beverage containers represented 19.8% of all plastic

rubbish reported. This is a decrease of 4.6% over 2013.

Food packaging, including confectionery wrappers,

represented 22.78%, an 11% decrease on 2013.

Other packaging, including plastic bags, strapping and

crates represented 20.7% of all reported plastics.

PLASTICS

15

SERIES 1Food Scraps

Clothing

Other Items

Car/machinery Parts

Ceramics

Syringes

Batteries

Furniture

Shopping Trolleys

E-waste

Carpet

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

1118

862

558

356

259

249

248

211

186

112

110

42,957 miscellaneous items wererecorded in 2014 surveys

42,957 miscellaneous items were recorded in 2014

surveys. This is an increase of 9,198 over the previous

year.

Cigarette butts continue to dominate this category –

representing 90% [39,688 items] of the rubbish removed.

This is not shown on the graph

Food scraps took out second spot in 2014 [1,118 items],

followed by clothing [862 items] and miscellaneous other

items [558 items].

E-waste items dropped in 2014, surveys reporting 112

items, [137 in 2013].

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

16 MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH

METAL AND ALUMINIUM

Soft Drink Bottle

Alcoholic Beverage

Foil/confectionery Wrappers

Bottle Caps

Pipe

Other

Large Pieces

Construction Materials

Aerosol Cans

Small Pieces

Food Containers

Wire

Appliances

Paint Tins

44 Gallon Drums

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

6376633451374578121677550347042241236934011211244

metal items were recorded in 2014.

27,200

As a percentage of all rubbish removed by volunteers

in 2014, metals were 1% down on 2013.

Beverage containers continue to be the dominant

sources of metal waste. Soft drink, alcohol containers,

their caps and lids represent 63.5% of all metal waste

removed [69.5% in 2013]. The next most significant

single item type was confectionary wrappers at 18.8%

[15.7% in 2013], followed by construction materials

pipe/other metals/large pieces and construction

materials at 10.8% [6.2% last year].

27,200 metal items were recorded in 2014.

17

PAPER AND CARDBOARD

paper and cardboard items were counted in 2014

27,753

Small Paper Pieces

Fast Food Packaging

Cigarette Packets

Napkins And Tissues

Cups

Bags

Newspapers/books/magazines

Drink Cartoons

Boxes

Other

Large

Milk Cartons

Wine Casks

Egg Cartons

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

71923231274721881810176817511562116210915615508456

27,753 paper and cardboard items were counted in

2014.

The majority of paper waste removed was again

‘Small Paper’ at 27.9% [up 8.5% on 2013].

Cumulatively food and drink packaging is a key

source of paper rubbish. Fast food packaging,

napkins and tissues, paper cups, drink cartons, milk

cartons, wine casks and egg cartons constituted 36.8

% of all paper surveyed [51% in 2013].

Cigarette packets were the third most reported single

paper/cardboard item [2,747 items]. This is a

decrease of 23.26% over last year.

1918 MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH

GLASS

SERIES 1

Volunteers counted

glass items in 2014.

23,511

Alcoholic Beverage Bottles

Soft Drink Bottles

Pieces

Other

Fruit Juice Bottles

Food Jars

Light Globes

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

10474

5114

5009

1120

1081

659

54

In 2014, glass accounted for 12% of

surveyed items, down 1.7% on 2013.

Whole beverage containersaccounted for 70.9% of glasscounted in 2014. This was8.1% less than the 2013count.

Broken glass accounted for 21.3% of

rubbish reported, up 1.6% on last year.

Volunteers counted 23,511 glass items in

their 2014 Rubbish Surveys.

19

EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE

SERIES 1

Polystyrene fast food containers and cups/plates accounted for

of reported rubbish32%

Pieces

Fast Food Containers

Plates And Cups

Packaging

Other

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

5775

1975

1472

1340

208

Expanded polystyrene accounted for 6% of the rubbish

removed in 2014, an increase of nearly 1%.

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 53.6% of all expanded

polystyrene found being either partially or completely

fragmented. This was an increase of 16.6% on 2013 figures.

Polystyrene fast food containers andcups/plates accounted for 32% of reportedrubbish, followed by packaging at 12.4%and unidentifiable items at 1.9%.

Volunteers recorded a total 10,770 items of polystyrene.

SERIES 1

20 MAJOR SOURCES OF RUBBISH

WOOD

of all wood items found were ice cream sticks

40.4%

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Ice Cream Sticks

Construction Materials

Pieces

Other

Bottle Corks

1162

646

520

384

158

At 2% of reported items, wood was the second least likely

rubbish type removed in 2014.

Consistent with previous years, ice cream sticks were the

most widely reported item accounting for 40.4% of all wood

items found [47.2% in 2013].

Construction materials represented 22.5% of surveyed items

this year, a 3.5% increase over 2013.

These were followed by wood pieces at 18.1%

[19.1% in 2013].

Bottle corks still make their presence felt at13.4% of reported wood; suggestive ofoutdoor celebrations.

Surveys reported 2,870 wood items nationally.

21

RUBBER

SERIES 1

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Tyre

s

Thon

gs/s

hoes

Oth

er

Rub

ber G

love

s

Con

dom

s

In 2014 rubber accounted for 1% of rubbish reported – a

reduction of 0.2% over 2013.

Tyres were the most common rubber item removed at 33%

[31% in 2013]. This was followed by thongs/shoes at 23.6%

[29.2% in 2013] and other rubbish items @ 19.9%.

A total of 2,580 rubber items were recorded in 2014 surveys.

2014 Sponsors

and Supporters

Site Rubbish Composition

22 SITE RUBBISH COMPOSITION

30.31

4.95

17.10

1.45

9.90

16.16

0.98

19.15

100.00

Plastic

Polystyrene

Glass

Rubber

Paper/cardboard

Metals

Wood

Miscellaneous

Total

26.58

6.13

10.08

1.09

11.34

12.91

1.22

30.65

100.00

Beach

CoastalRoadway

27.58

5.32

13.89

1.98

19.96

14.91

1.47

14.89

100.00

37.77

3.85

10.55

1.10

14.51

13.00

2.15

17.07

100.00

Outdoor

Transport

Shops

MallsDive

40.17

9.86

10.46

1.20

12.60

14.81

1.14

9.75

100.00

Rivers Parks

29.12

6.96

8.66

1.33

9.27

13.31

1.04

30.31

100.00

25.76

5.66

15.31

1.32

14.94

15.07

1.50

20.44

100.00

Public

Bushland

School

Grounds

39.52

2.50

11.67

0.42

22.62

7.25

1.10

14.92

100.00

33.49

14.44

7.53

2.09

17.25

12.26

2.00

10.94

100.00

50.00

10.78

16.23

0.52

0.00

20.91

0.00

1.56

100.00

Other

The following table outlines the proportions of different types of rubbish removed

from each site as a percentage of all rubbish reported.

Plastics were the dominant material removed by

volunteers, averaging 34.03% across all site types. This

is a 4.76% decrease on 2013.

Miscellaneous items averaged 16.97% across all sites,

with the highest counts being in beach/coastal areas

and on roadways.

Metals [average 14.06%] were predominantly found in

waterways, dive sites and rivers. There was also a high

proportion reported from roadway clean ups.

Paper and cardboard [average 13.24%] are most likely

to be found at outdoor transport areas, bushland and

shops/malls. Small pieces of paper account for the

highest proportion of this rubbish.

Glass, which averaged 12.15% across all sites, was

predominantly found in rivers, dive sites and on

roadways. Whole glass bottles and containers made up

66.3% of all glass reported.

Polystyrene averaged 7.05% across all sites. Small

pieces are the main contributor to this count.

Bushland was the main site at which rubber was

reported [average 1.25%]. The major item was tyres.

Wood [average 1.26%] in the form of icecream sticks

was most likely to be reported from school sites.

[*It should be noted there were only 3 dive sites surveyed]

A round of applause is due to our

generous funders and suppliers:

• Major Sponsor: The Commonwealth Bank

• Sponsors: McDonald’s, the Qantas Foundation,

• Suppliers: Paramount Safety Products [gloves], News

Corporation, Shop-A-Docket, Look Print [signage],

Becton Dickinson [sharps containers]

23

The Great Northern Clean Up 2014In 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.

North of the Tropic of Capricorn,in its first five years an estimated23,416 volunteers removedaround 1,405 tonnes of rubbishfrom 636 registered sites.

In 2014 the event took place over the second

weekend of September.

Across Australia, a total of 17,002 volunteers

had already removed around 671 tonnes of

rubbish from 305 sites between the end of

March and that weekend of action.

Over 13-14 September an additional 1,874

volunteers removes an estimated 145.2 tonnes

of rubbish from 66 sites across northern

Western Australia, the Territory and

Queensland.

State by state volunteers achieved:

NT: 84 sites, approximately 5,242 volunteers,

estimated 192 tonnes of rubbish removed.

QLD: 213 sites, approximately 10,780

volunteers, an estimated 468.6 tonnes of

rubbish removed.

WA: 74 sites, approximately 2,854 volunteers,

estimated 162.8 tonnes of rubbish removed.

Congratulations to all of our mostnorthern volunteers and thesquads of Green Nomads whohave put themselves in thepicture in 2014. A special thankyou to the Councils who workwith us in supporting all of theirefforts.

Clean Up Australia Ltd

193 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

cleanup@ cleanup.com.au

Clean Up Australia Day 1800 282 329

Clean Up Australia +61 2 8197 3400

Clean Up the World +61 2 8197 3420

www.cleanup.org.au