MOST POLLUTED SITES

The 'Total Rubbish Distribution' chart identifies the most polluted sites in Australia.

This year, parks and waterfronts were the most polluted sites with an average of 486 items found per site - a decreased from 2004 when they recorded an average of 531 items per site. They were followed by public bushland with an average of 425 items and roadways with 415 items.

While it may appear that outdoor transport sites and shops/malls were more polluted with an average of 1079 and 1067 items respectively, this can be explained by very small sample sizes of only 3 and 8 sites.

This year, most sites recorded a decrease in the average number of items found from 2004, with an average of 507 items found across all sites in 2005, compared with 592 in 2004.

View surveyed items by sites statistics

The 'Site Rubbish Composition' chart details the proportions of different types of rubbish removed from each site.

This year, school grounds recorded the highest proportion of plastics, while consistent with previous years, outdoor transport sites had the highest number of miscellaneous items (including cigarette butts).

For a more detailed analysis of rubbish distribution across different site categories, see 'Number of Surveyed Items by Site Category' on page [insert page number here].