Join the 2025 Clean Up Australia Day Event!

Clean Up Australia's Litter Report FY23 reveals that plastics continue to dominate the Australian litter landscape, marking 81% of all surveyed litter. Shedding light on the pressing challenges of plastic pollution across the country, Clean Up Australia is calling for heightened awareness of the need to stem litter production and urging volunteers to join us on Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday March 3.

From the previous year’s report findings, soft plastics increased to 34%, a substantial 9% rise, while hard plastics comprised 28% of all surveyed litter, equating a 4% increase for plastics overall. Cigarette butts represented 16%, an increase from the previous year, and ranked second only to soft plastic pieces in individual items reported by volunteers, followed by beverage bottles. Vapes were collected at 22% of surveyed sites, an increase from 2022 when vapes were found on only 10% of surveyed sites.

In response to the statistic that 44% of reported litter was cleared from waterway sites, followed by parks and bushland at 16% and 11% respectively, Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia, states, “Despite increased survey returns from parks, the higher volume of reported litter at waterway sites reminds us that litter has a strong likelihood of ending up in our precious rivers, creeks, and the ocean.”