Threat of marine plastic pollution in Australia

Submission 88

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission to this inquiry.

The problems and threats posed by marine debris, especially plastic debris, are of great concern to me and
I urge you to act decisively. Your recommendation for urgent action to address these growing problems will
benefit our oceans and coastline, our wildlife and birds, our impact on this our only planet.

The amount of plastic already in our oceans is having significant detrimental impacts, with consumption
and resulting starvation particularly by birds. So undoubtedly there are other impacts as yet to be
discovered.

Methods of catching much of our plastic waste, such as barriers at waste water outfalls, are already in
place but have proved totally inadequate. Volunteers give their time, as on Australia Day, to clean up small
areas of our coastline, and always there is a horrifying volume of waste that is collected. This is inefficient
and inadequate. There is a need to be more imaginative and more direct in approach, especially in the area
of drink containers, where a recycling levy has already proved beneficial in controlling the waste.

Waste material scattered anywhere is unattractive, a deterrent to tourists, and an unappealing view to
anyone. The possibilities of health hazards via sharps [broken glass, crushed drink cans] must also be
taken into account.

I hope you will give this matter serious consideration and encourage new ideas to
tackle the problem as its impact on this, our only planet, has already got out of hand.

Yours sincerely,

Jo McRae