Flourish - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 16
Why Australia should care
Australia has its own
plastic problem. The
federal government’s
latest plastics 昀氀ows and
fates reporting shows
that in 2023–24 Australia
consumed 4.0 million
tonnes of plastic products
and packaging, with 3.2
million tonnes reaching
end of life. The national
plastics recovery rate
was just 14 per cent, and
around 87 per cent of
plastics leaving the use
stage went directly to
land昀椀ll. Over time, they
fragment, move through
waterways, soils and
air, and create more
opportunities for human
and ecological exposure.
CSIRO research adds
another local warning
sign. It estimates that
about three quarters of
the rubbish along the
Australian coast is plastic,
with debris concentrated
near urban centres. In
coastal and offshore
waters, the density of
plastic ranges from a few
thousand pieces per square
kilometre to more than
40,000 pieces per square
kilometre. In other words,
Australia is not standing on
the sidelines of this issue.
We are living in it.
