PLASTIC POLLUTION

Why wrap a cucumber in plastic? Nature already gave produce the perfect packaging.

This Plastic Free July, go nude. Skip plastic-wrapped produce and help keep 145,000 tonnes of plastic out of our environment, including oceans and waterways, with WWF-Australia’s pledge.

Since their rise in popularity in the middle of the 20th century, single use plastics have made their into every corner of our lives. But despite being heralded as convenient, we now know that plastic is anything but convenient for our planet.

When thrown away, plastic doesn’t just disappear. It lingers for centuries, threatening turtles, seabirds, and countless other marine species.

Australia's plastic problem

Australia is the second highest generator of single-use plastic waste per person in the world. Every year, we use a staggering 147kg of plastic per person and, of this waste, approximately 145,000 tonnes of plastic leak into our environment, including oceans and waterways, injuring and killing marine life, especially sea birds and turtles.

Thankfully, there are lots of different ways to help reduce your (and Australia's) plastic footprint.

State of plastics in Australia

Over the past decade, WWF-Australia has been monitoring the progress of all states and territories in banning the most harmful and unnecessary single-use plastic products, that pose the greatest risk if leaked into the environment. 

Our 'State of Plastics in Australia' scorecard was first published in 2019, and since then we've seen impressive progress right across the country.

In just five years since launching the report, we saw a huge shift across Australia on single-use plastics, and a lot of that is due to the efforts of individuals, communities, schools, and businesses. They called on governments to take action and our politicians have listened.

This is a big win for people and nature, including seabirds and marine mammals who will encounter less deadly plastic in their environments.

Read more in the reports below.