EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rubbish Surveyed:

  • Of the 7,564 sites cleaned up around Australia, 10% or 814 sites were analysed for this report.
  • The total number of sites analysed has increased from 738 sites last year to 814 sites.
  • The quality of data returned has also improved with 92.5% of survey forms returned this year completed correctly, as compared to 87% last year.
  • An estimated 9,000 tonnes of rubbish was collected during the Clean Up Australia campaign across Australia.
  • This year a total of 297,693 items formed the sample of rubbish counted for analysis.

Sites Surveyed

  • NSW once again returned the highest number of surveys (309), followed by Victoria (134).
  • Roadways were the most surveyed sites, accounting for 23.3% of all sites surveyed.
  • The least number of surveys were completed at Outdoor Transport sites, accounting for 0.2% of all sites surveyed.

Major Sources of Rubbish

  • For the eleventh consecutive year plastics made up the majority of rubbish collected accounting for 33.7% 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 16.4% of rubbish surveyed.
  • Paper/cardboard was the third most common type of rubbish found (15.9%), followed by metal (13.2%), glass (11.7%), polystyrene (5.2%), wood (2.1%) and rubber (1.8%).

The Top Ten Rubbish Items

  • Cigarette Butts were the most commonly found rubbish item in 2006, accounting for 27.9% of the Top Ten items and 14.4% of all items found - down from 17% in 2005.
  • Plastic Chip and confectionary bags increased to second position from third in 2005, accounting for 12.1% of the Top Ten and 6.3% of the total items collected.
  • Small pieces of paper also increased to take third position (Fourth in 2005) representing 10.2% of the Top Ten items (5.3% of total).
  • Glass pieces decreased from second to fourth position to account for 9.5% of the Top Ten Rubbish Items and 4.9% of all rubbish found.
  • Glass Alcohol beverage bottles decreased position from third to fifth with 8.6% of the Top Ten Items and 4.4% of the total items found.
  • The next most commonly found items were plastic bottle caps / lids (7.7% of top ten items), plastic PET beverage containers (6.5% of top ten and an increase in position from 8th in 2005), metal alcoholic cans (6.5% of Top Ten), and metal soft drink cans (3.3% of top ten).
  • The tenth most common item found on Clean Up Australia Day 2006 was plastic supermarket / retail bags. This is first time since 1999 this item has appeared in the top ten, though it is usually in the top twenty.

The Most Polluted Areas in Australia

  • There was a substantial overall decrease in the average number of items found per site from 507 items last year (592 the year before) to 366 this year.
  • Shops / Malls were the most polluted sites in 2006, with an average of 1255 items collected per Shop / Mall site. The majority of this rubbish was cigarette butts.

KEY FINDINGS

  • The number of rubbish items found per site appears to be decreasing overall.
  • The number of cigarette butts found has decreased in 2006, accounting for 14.4% of all items found.
  • Beverage containers persist in the top ten items, accounting for 27.9% of all top ten items.
  • Seven out of the top ten items found are recyclable.

KEY SURVEY RESULTS

Plastic
Plastic was once again the most common source of rubbish found accounting for 33.7% of all rubbish found (a 1.7% increase from 2005). In 2004 it accounted for 37% of all rubbish surveyed.

Polystyrene
Polystyrene accounted for 5.2% of all rubbish surveyed in 2006, a slight increase from 2004 and 2005.

Glass
The amount of glass rubbish surveyed decreased, accounting for 11.7% of all rubbish surveyed - a 2.3% decrease from 2005.

Rubber
As in previous years, rubber has remained the smallest source of rubbish accounting for 1.8% of the total rubbish surveyed.

Paper and Cardboard
Paper and cardboard accounted for 15.9% of the rubbish surveyed, a 0.9% increase from 2005.

Metal and Aluminium
Metal and Aluminium accounted for 13.2% of the rubbish surveyed in 2006, an increase of 1.2% from 2005.

Wood
Wood accounted for 2.1% of the total rubbish surveyed in 2006, which was almost the same result as 2004 (2%).

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous items accounted for 16.4% of the total rubbish surveyed - the same as 2005. Consistent with previous years, cigarette butts made up the vast majority of miscellaneous items found.

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