Today marks a milestone in the fight against marine debris – the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has released the National Plastics Plan which aims to address the plastic problem.
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“In 2007, when we really took notice of the plastic pellets we were finding along the WA coastline, microplastics weren’t a priority and marine debris, in general, wasn’t the hot topic that it is today,” says Heidi Tait, Managing Director of the Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
In March 2020, Ms. Tait attended Australia’s first-ever National Plastics Summit together with over 200 leaders and experts from government, industry, and community sectors, brought together to identify and showcase new ideas and solutions towards the plastics challenge.
“To go from that point, where the plastics problem was not recognized by the government to today, where government, industry, and organisations are coming together to create solutions, that’s a huge win.”
Samantha Read, CEO of Chemistry Australia said the Association was delighted to see Operation Clean Sweep® recognised as a key initiative to reduce plastics in our oceans and waterways.
“Chemistry Australia has worked closely with Tangaroa Blue and the Operation Clean Sweep® initiative for many years,” said Ms. Read.
“Together, we continue to educate and encourage businesses, through Chemistry Australia member interest group Plastics Stewardship Australia, to prevent plastic pellet loss into the environment by implementing simple and effective improvements to their operations.”
“Source reduction has always been at the heart of what we do, and when we found the Operation Clean Sweep model in the States, we knew we had to bring it into Australia,” said Ms. Tait.
“Tangaroa Blue and Chemistry Australia working together to implement and modify the global program to suit the Australian industry has been a truly unique partnership which could not have been achieved without the long-term AMDI monitoring across Australia, and, in particular, without the plastic industry in Victoria.”
“This is what the AMDI is all about. Working together, gathering data and using the data to drive change.”
Tangaroa Blue Foundation would like to acknowledge the efforts of Peter Bury and Chemistry Australia CEO Samantha Read for the commitment to support Operation Clean Sweep, the 2,720 contributors to the AMDI Database Australia-wide, and our early Operation Clean Sweep funders Port Phillip Bay Fund, the Victoria State Government, and EPA Victoria.
“In 2007, when we really took notice of the plastic pellets we were finding along the WA coastline, microplastics weren’t a priority and marine debris, in general, wasn’t the hot topic that it is today,” says Heidi Tait, Managing Director of the Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
