TRANSCRIPT
Despite efforts to reduce the use of plastic, research has found that it is still the most common form of litter that ends up in marine environments.
Plastic accounts for 79 per cent of litter in waterways across Australia, excluding the Northern Territory.
But it's not all bad news, as the phasing out of single-use items seems to be having an impact.
The CEO of Conservation Volunteers Australia, Phil Harrison, explains where action is needed the most.
"In some good news, we can see that early policy initiatives such as the ban on single use plastics, such as knives, forks and takeaway containers; they're starting to take effect because those items are a reducing proportion of the overall. However, there are everyday items that we all have in our homes - plastic bottles, bottle caps, plastic food wrappers - that are well and truly entrenched in the top five, the top six, that's where we need to take action."
The findings are based on the waste collected by more than 16,000 people, 150 community groups and 50 companies over the last three years.
They have been involved in collecting waste from nine major urban waterways and catchments that feed the Great Barrier Reef and the Southern Reef.
Mr Harrison says it is important to analyse the sources and types of plastics causing the most problems.
"We've worked with communities across Australia and collected over 400,000 pieces of marine debris. And we've analysed that and this is the key point. Data is so important. We need to understand where is the plastic coming from."
The analysis has revealed that the majority of plastics ending up in waterways are: food wrappers, polystyrene, plastic bottle caps and small pieces of hard and soft microplastics.
Conservationists are also concerned about cigarette butts, which make up nine per cent of the total litter collected by volunteers.
Mr Harrison says not much of it is needed to harm marine life.
"Research tells us that as few as 14 pieces of plastic is sufficient, unfortunately, to kill turtles in the marine environment. We've all seen the dreadful images that show this as it happens. We need to stop that."
Australian seabirds are also in danger, with the World Wildlife Fund estimating that about 85 per cent of them are affected by plastic pollution.
Volunteers around the country participated in the first ever World Ocean Day Down Under [[24 Jan]] ahead of the international event, which is held on June 8th.
Conservation Volunteers Australia is hoping the launch inspires Australians to make it a year-long practice.
This woman says she was motivated to take part because she has seen first-hand the damage to marine wildlife from plastic pollution.
"From being in a little turtle sanctuary a while back near New Caledonia I learned about how difficult it is for them to survive. Them filling up with plastic, and all the birds that die, and when they open them up and they've got a lot of plastic in their in their tummies."
This man also took part in World Ocean Day Down Under. He says he feels a responsibility to take action.
"We humans are want to leave the planet better for my children, next generations. We have a responsibility to make the place as best as we can; and as natural as we can; (and) have as least impact as we can on it."
The analysis by Conservation Volunteers Australia also broke down the proportion of plastic pollution in the ocean's main tributaries by capital city.
Perth has the lowest amount of plastic in its waste, at 61 per cent.
In Sydney, this figure rises to 91 per cent.
Mr Harrison says the organisation has developed resources with the CSIRO to help Australians conduct a home waste audit.
The hope is it encourages people to act to reduce plastic pollution in the first place - before it ends up in the ocean.
