Government releases "Drowning in Waste" Report
In December 2022, Tangaroa Blue Foundation wrote a submission to the Senate Inquiry into Plastic Pollution in Australia’s Oceans and Waterways. This submission resulted in Heidi Tait, Tangaroa Blue Foundation’s CEO, providing evidence at a public hearing in Canberra for this Inquiry in March 2023. In May 2024, the Government released the Inquiry results with 22 recommendations.
Read the full Drowning in Waste Report.
Recommendations for an updated National Plastics Plan
Five of the recommendations are associated with the development of an updated National Plastics Plan (NPP). The updated NPP should:
Contain reporting and transparency measures to monitor progress and accountability.
Coordinate and track actions concerning the reduction of the use of plastics.
Nationally harmonise single-use plastic bans.
Establish national waste collection standards.
Include effective policies that track and limit plastic and polymer production.
Establish more robust Extended Producer Responsibility schemes to ensure product stewardship.
Investigate the application of a levy on virgin polymers to ensure that plastics are made from at least 30% recycled content (with this minimum to increase progressively).
Report annually to Parliament on the progress of key actions of the updated NPP
Barriers to National Plastics Plan Goals
What is not always noted in the recommendations, and what Tangaroa Blue requested in their submission, is that the most significant barrier to achieving the goals of the current NPP is the need for coordination and funding to meet targets. Many stakeholders are working towards reducing plastic pollution in Australia’s oceans and waterways. Still, without a coordination framework, the risk of duplication of effort and wastage of public funds is significant.
Operation Clean Sweep
In the current NPP, Operation Clean Sweep is identified as an action. However, Tangaroa Blue Foundation recommends in the proposed updated NPP, that Operation Clean Sweep becomes a mandatory requirement for anyone in the plastics supply chain: suppliers, transporters, manufacturers and recyclers, to ensure that microplastic pollution doesn’t increase with our increase in domestic recycling capacity.
The loss of this plastic feedstock relates directly to internal housekeeping procedures during transportation and manufacturing and should be one of the most accessible sources of microplastic pollution to mitigate. Operation Clean Sweep is an existing best practice industry program ready to be scaled nationally to address this issue.
Other recommendations from the Inquiry include:
- The harmonisation of balloon release arrangements
- A centralised pre-processing hub for ghost nets through the Ghost Nets Initiative
- Harmonisation and expansion of Container Deposit Schemes
- Standardise and simplify plastic packaging and recyclability labelling
- Consideration of greenwashing claims made on packaging and in advertising (see Tangaroa Blue’s webinar and hear more about our attendance at the Greenwashing Senate Inquiry)
- And many more
There is plenty more work to be done to address Plastic Pollution in Australia’s Oceans and Waterways, and we hope the Australian Government implements these recommendations.
