An estimated 150m pieces of rubbish are strewn upon Australia’s beaches, with many remote locations far less tidy than beaches close to cities, a CSIRO study has found.

 

The government science agency has been surveying more than 175 beaches around Australia’s coastline since 2011 to assess the extent of human-caused waste. The project, which concludes in June, has found that when population factors are accounted for, the more remote beaches contain a proportionally greater amount of rubbish than those next to large population centers.

 

CSIRO said 80% of the estimated 150m pieces of rubbish on Australia’s beaches comes from land-based sources, such as plastic drinks bottles, with the rest made up of debris from the fishing industry.

 

Several beaches were considered close to pristine, but researchers found “disheartening” evidence of rubbish in even the most remote, picturesque spots.

 

Plastic, which forms much of the beach debris, doesn’t break down in the natural world, causing potential injuries and toxicity to fish, turtles and seabirds which swallow it. Marine creatures can also get tangled up and drown in rubbish.

 

The CSIRO report will be handed to councils, state and federal governments to help inform strategies to reduce the problem of beach-based rubbish. Hardesty said simple measures such as the container deposit scheme should be promoted to stem the flow of rubbish.