Plastic. It’s everywhere. Australia produces almost 3 million tonnes of plastic per annum. Sadly, less than 12% is recycled.Plastic is a human-made material and a human created threat to the unique ecosystems that we rely on. Only existing in the past 60 – 70 years, plastic has invaded our daily lives. It’s strong, lightweight and inexpensive. But the same properties that make plastics so useful make them a threat to the health of your local environment. 

Unfortunately, half of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once. We buy, we use once and throw it away. This plastic is known as ‘single-use’ plastics and it makes up a third of the litter that plagues our streets and waterways. Used for a short period of time, single-use plastics will stay in our environment for hundreds of years, where it breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments. 

The network of rivers and its tributaries act as highways and roads for transporting plastic waste and dumping it on to riverbeds, bays and the ocean. Only rarely is this journey of plastic interrupted – if we’re fortunate the flow of plastic is collected by bandalong litter traps, if we’re unlucky it is by wildlife mistaking fragments of plastic for food. 

Yarra Riverkeepers have seen the impact of plastic first-hand. Throughout 2019 – 2020 our Yarra River Blitz events collected more than 2600 plastic bottles and 2700 plastic lids!