The 2021 Western Australia Beach Clean-up Report summarises the state-wide clean-ups from Tangaroa Blue Foundations’ annual event.
Over 90 organisations, volunteer groups, community members and businesses joined in the 2021 Western Australian Beach Clean-up. At 100 events, over 3 tonnes of debris was
removed by 1,439 volunteers over 3,800 hours and 214 kilometres.
While fewer events were held in 2021 than 2020 and 2019, more volunteers contributed to the event and collected a larger weight of debris over a greater distance. Volunteer effort, was unsurprisingly, concentrated in the most populous regions, the South West and Swan River.
Christmas Island had the highest density of debris at 0.141 pieces per square metre, while the South Coast region had the lowest density at 0.001. In regional and remote areas, the debris was dominated by items from an offshore source, such as the high levels of rope and net scraps found in the South Rangelands region.
Plastic materials such as plastic bits & pieces, plastic food packaging, and plastic film remnants dominated the top three item lists in all regions, with rope and cigarette butts and filters found at high levels in several regions as well. All data was entered into the AMDI Database and will inform management strategy recommendations and plans in the future.
Download a copy of the report here.
Are you interested in participating in the 2022 WA Beach Clean-up? Find out more here.
