Rubbish Report 2005

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rubbish Surveyed:

Of the 7,044 sites cleaned up around Australia, 10% or 738 sites were analysed for this report.
The total number of sites analysed has increased significantly from 484 sites last year to 738 sites.
The quality of data returned has also improved with 87% of survey forms returned this year completed correctly, as compared to 83% last year.
An estimated 8,451 tonnes of rubbish was collected during the Clean Up Australia campaign across Australia.
This year a total of 309,810 items formed the sample of rubbish counted for analysis.

Sites Surveyed

NSW once again returned the highest number of surveys (265), followed by Victoria (144).
The national split between surveyed rural and urban sites was 56% urban and 44% rural.
School grounds were the most surveyed sites, accounting for 24.7% of all sites surveyed.
The least number of surveys were completed at parks/waterfonts, accounting for 2% of all sites surveyed.
The least number of surveys were completed at outdoor transport sites which accounted for less than 1% of the total surveys returned.

Major Sources of Rubbish

For the eleventh consecutive year plastics made up the majority of rubbish collected accounting for 32% of surveyed rubbish. This is down from last year when plastic accounted for 37% of surveyed rubbish.
Miscellaneous rubbish including cigarette butts, food scraps, clothing, ceramics and car parts accounted for 18% of rubbish surveyed.
Paper/cardboard was the third most common type of rubbish found (15%), followed by glass (14%), metal (12%), polysterene (5%), wood (2%) and rubber (1%).

The Top Ten Rubbish Items

Cigarette Butts were the most commonly found rubbish item in 2005, accounting for 31% of the Top Ten items and 17% of all items found - up from 15% in 2004.
Glass pieces increased to account for 12% of the Top Ten Rubbish Items and 6% of all rubbish found - up from 4% in 2004.
Chips and confectionery bags accounted for 10% of the Top Ten Items and 6% of all rubbish found - down from 7% in 2004.
The next most commonly found items were small paper pieces (8% of top ten items), plastic straws (7% of top ten items), metal bottle caps & lids (6% of top ten items), PET bottles (6% of top ten items), metal alcoholic cans (5% of top ten items) and metal softdrink cans (5% of top ten items).

The Most Polluted Areas in Australia

There was an overall decrease in the average number of items found per site from 592 items last year to 507 this year.
Parks/waterfronts were the most polluted sites in 2005, with an average of 486 items collected from each park/waterfront site.

KEY FINDINGS

The number of rubbish items cleaned up continues to increase.
The number of cigarette butts found continues to increase, in 2005 accounting for 17% of all items found.
The percentage of plastic rubbish has decreased by 5%.
Recyclable rubbish such as glass and paper continues to increase.

KEY SURVEY RESULTS

Plastic
Plastic was once again the most common source of rubbish found accounting for 32% of all rubbish found. However the percentage of plastic rubbish found has decreased by 5% - in 2004 it accounted for 37% of all rubbish surveyed.

Polystyrene
Polystyrene accounted for 5% of all rubbish surveyed in 2005, the same result as 2004.

Glass
The amount of glass rubbish surveyed increased, accounting for 14% of all rubbish surveyed - a 2% increase from 2004.

Rubber
As in previous years, rubber has remained the smallest source of rubbish accounting for 1% of the total rubbish surveyed.

Paper and Cardboard
Paper and cardboard accounted for 15% of the rubbish surveyed, up from 13% in 2004.

Metal and Aluminium
Metal and Aluminium accounted for 12% of the rubbish surveyed in 2005, down from 13% in 2004.

Wood
Wood accounted for 2% of the total rubbish surveyed in 2005, which was the same result as 2004.

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous items accounted for 17% of the total rubbish surveyed - the same as 2004. Consistent with previous years, cigarette butts made up the vast majority of miscellaneous items found.