In the lead-up to the State election, NSW has the opportunity to lead Australia in reducing the plastic pollution of our environment...but it has some catching up to do. 

While the introduction of NSW’s contemporary container deposit scheme has triggered almost universal adoption across Australia – with great community support nationwide – the ongoing recalcitrance in relation to banning plastic shopping bags has become an embarrassment, as the rest of the country leaps towards the elimination of this acknowledged source of plastic pollution; and doing more on single use plastics found in the litter stream.  

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Multinational giants including Unilever, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone, Coca Cola and Procter and Gamble have signed up to a new plastic-free home delivery service in a game-changing development.

Powered by US-based international recycler, TerraCycle, Loop will see 300+ food, cosmetic and household cleaning products available for home delivery in sleek, reusable containers that will be picked up at your door, washed and refilled, eliminating the need for disposable containers. 

Credit: Loop

When it comes to the routes by which plastic waste escapes into our waterways and oceans, Craig Rothleitner believes Australians buy into a false misconception.

'There have been various institutions, illustrating trucks backing up to waterways and dumping plastic into the ocean on television... which in this country, I can confidently say is not occurring.'

And the inventor of the Catch Basin Insert (CBI), a filtration system to capture urban waste and harmful anaerobic nutrients at the entry source, believes most people are unfamiliar with the term 'stormwater'.

'When it rains, that large body of water dumped at the surface quickly flows out of sight because 99 per cent of the stormwater infrastructure is out of sight. 

'And once that stormwater flows beneath the surface, carrying with it plastic waste and debris, it's completely out of mind.'

For more than a decade, the former motor mechanic and a heavy rigger has toiled on an effective filtration material and system to remove 'the garbage' from metropolitan drains.

Inspired by a desire to clean up the Swan River, the Perth-based inventor hit upon a method to filter waste measuring anything above 150 microns (the average sand particle is about 600 microns).

And after years of trials, false starts and bureaucratic red tape, Craig is ready to commercialize his invention and ultimately make a significant impact on plastic pollution entering our waterways.

The achievement of one billion containers recycled in one year through the NSW Return and Earn container deposit scheme and an almost doubling of the recycling rate, should be convincing evidence for the Victorian and Tasmanian governments to announce support for drink bottle and can refunds, the Boomerang Alliance said today, on releasing a review.

Boomerang Alliance sent an open letter to the leaders of all Victorian parties, asking them to commit to the introduction of a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) in the next term of parliament. The letter was signed by 80 organisations, representing over 100,000 Victorians. And here is how the parties replied -

Plastic Free Noosa Removes 1.4 million Plastic Takeaway Items

It's official!  Boomerang Alliance's Plastic Free Noosa program has successfully eliminated more than 1.4 million items of single-use takeaway plastic from the Queensland resort town of Noosa, since the beginning of 2018, preventing a significant volume of problem plastics from ending up in landfill or as marine pollution.  

QLD GOVERNMENT MEDIA RELEASE - It's time to cash in your containers

Queensland, get your cans and bottles ready – Queensland’s container refund scheme, Containers for Change, is now here.  In launching the scheme, Minister for Environment Leeanne Enoch said today was a historic day for Queensland.

Boomerang Alliance welcomes the next state, Queensland, to introduce a 10 cent container refund scheme. This means that, with Western Australia and the ACT to follow shortly, only two jurisdictions in Australia - Victoria and Tasmania - have yet to introduce container deposits.

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed legislation to cull a range of single-use plastics with readily available alternatives, by 2021.

Image credit: Horia Varlan (Wiki)

New findings have discovered microplastic in humans for the first time.