Australia has cut plastic waste on its beaches by almost 30% in 6 years. Here's how

Jun 16, 2022

Having bins that are easier to access has helped cut coastal litter in Australia. Image: The Conversation/Kathryn Willis, Author provided

Kathryn Willis

Marine Socioecologist, University of Tasmania

Britta Denise Hardesty

Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO

Joanna Vince

Senior lecturer, University of Tasmania

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Australia is affecting economies, industries and global issues

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Australia

These type of local government actions encourage the public to dispose of waste properly through economic incentives. Image: The Conversation/Kathryn Willis

An infographic showing how local interventions can reduce plastic pollution in the environment.

Local interventions reduce plastic pollution in the environment. Image: The Conversation/Author supplied

We found less plastic pollution in areas encouraging participation in clean-ups. Image: The Conversation/Kathryn Willis

A close view of common types of litter found along Australia’s coastline.

Common types of litter found along Australia’s coastline. Image: The Conversation/Kathryn Willis

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about plastic pollution?

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.