An Inquiry Into:

Plastic Pollution in
Australia and
Worldwide.
By Melissa Park (S00266316)
ACTIVATING STAGE :Prior Knowledge of Plastic Pollution:
“By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish”(Harrington,2017),thus, action needs to, be taken now and thus justifying the
reasoning behind the conduction of this inquiry. Plastic pollution is serious environmental wicked problem and thus recommendations for
future action need to be investigated.
Upon reflection of my prior knowledge of the issue of the management of plastic waste, in Australia it is primarily based around my
schooling education and through my ongoing interest in this topic. I was specifically made aware of this issue recently, while on a walk
around my local beachfront. I found numerous pieces of rubbish lying around on the beach. If I hadn’t picked up the rubbish and disposed
of it, it would have ended up in the ocean and caused harm to the vast array of marine life. I was shocked by the amount of rubbish that I
decided to tally how much rubbish I found. Also, there were no recycling bins in the vicinity of the area, only normal waste bins and these
were about 5 meters away from he areas that I found the rubbish.
Specifically, I am aware that when disposing of waste, consideration needs to be taken to classify the type of rubbish. Rubbish cant just be
thrown in any garbage bin and then be considered well maintained. My prior knowledge stems from my schooling education. During my
schooling education I was educated on the importance of protecting and preserving the environment and the earth through simple waste
management techniques, such as when seeing rubbish lying around, it is imperative to pick up the rubbish and throw it in the bin. I am aware
of the importance of recycling and that recycling is the simply the recovery and reprocessing of waste materials into new products. The
importance of recycling was taught at school and the mantra of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ was the foundation of education about waste
management. This mantra was instilled into me from a very young age and has continued to be something that I live by as an adult. I also was
educated around the importance of waste segregation and the essentiality of waste bins. Waste bins are imperative for keeping the rubbish
around Australia well managed. The
Upon reflection of my prior knowledge of the types of waste produced in Australia, I acknowledge that waste typically arises from three
streams:
- Domestic and municipal- includes all household waste and waste collected in public spaces.
- Commercial and industrial waste from businesses and industrial activities
- Construction and demolition. Waste from Construction sites.
Although I feel I have a sound understanding of waste management, I feel as though I don’t have a deep conceptual understanding of
plastic waste management and the impacts of inadequate management of waste, as I have never conducted an inquiry into this issue before.
Thus, conducting an inquiry will assist me with building a deep conceptual understanding of this issue and allow me to become and active and
informed citizen and take action against this issue.
 The following guided questions have
been specifically designed to assist
Guiding with demonstrating personal learning,
findings and recommendations for
Questions further actions, regarding the wicked
problem of plastic pollution. The
guiding questions assist with framing
the inquiry and provide a springboard
for research conduction, to provide
recommendation for action.
 How does plastic
pollution in Australia,
OVERACHING and worldwide affect the
INQUIRY environment, wildlife
QUESTION: and human health?
Guided Question 1:

Is Australia’s
management of plastic
waste sustainable, in
comparison with other
countries?
 GENERIC SOURCES:
The generic primary and secondary sources that would be beneficial to
explore and further my understanding of this inquiry question regarding
waste management would include newspaper articles/reports,
interviews, legislation/regulations, government documents, books,
journal articles, news reports and educational videos regarding this
topic. These sources can be effectively used to explore and enhance
understanding of the wicked problem of Plastic pollution, using an
inquiry process to explore and further understanding of this wicked
problem.
Specific Primary and Secondary Sources:
The Following primary and secondary sources will support, explore and
expose the key inquiry issue of plastic pollution in Australia and
worldwide to enhance and further my personal understanding of this
SPECIFIC SOURCES OF
INFORMATION:
PRIMARY SOURCES:
PRIMARY SOURCE 1: Australian Marine Conservation Society Article.(October 2021).
https://www.marineconservation.org.au/australia-7th-in-global-rankings-for-plastic-reduction/.
This primary source is an article sourced from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, which discusses the
latest and most recent data (October,2021) provided from the Global Plastics Management Index (PMI), which is a
project of Black to Blue an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation, that measures the efforts
made by 25 countries to stop plastic pollution. The PMI measures, compares and contrasts the efforts made by a
selection of 25 Countries at different stages of development in their management of plastics, covering the entire
lifecycle of plastic products. The goal of the Plastic Management Index is to assess each countries capacity to
minimise plastics mismanagement or leakages across the plastics lifecycle, while promoting the optimal production
and use of plastic as a resource. The report states that Germany is the top performing country, ranking first place
for governance and third for capacity to manage plastics. This primary source assisted in me understanding how
sustainable Australia’s management of plastics is, in comparison to other countries.
PRIMARY SOURCE 2:
SECONDARY SOURCE 1: 25 Educational Resources to Help Kids with the War
on Waste. This secondary source provides 25 educational resources to explore
if Australia's waste management plan is sustainable and how society can be
more sustainable in managing waste; further developing my understanding of
Australia's waste management practices.
SECONDARY SOURCE 2: WWF: The State of Australia’s Recycling.
https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/the-state-of-australias-recycling-how-did-
we-get-into-this-mess#gs.cfstmb
.
This Secondary source is an article focalised around the how Australia’s
management of plastic pollution is a disaster. It provides data on how much
plastics are utilized in Australia and how much rubbish is recycled. This article
illumined to me that waste collection and the recovery industry is fragmented.
Guided Question 3:

What are the

effects of plastic
pollution on
human health?
GENERIC SOURCES
The generic primary and secondary sources that would be beneficial to
explore and further my understanding of this inquiry question regarding
waste management would include newspaper articles/reports,
interviews, legislation/regulations, government documents, books,
journal articles, news reports and educational videos regarding this
topic. These sources can be effectively used to explore and enhance
understanding of the wicked problem of Plastic pollution, using an
inquiry process to explore and further understanding of this wicked
problem.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
Primary Source 1: Toxic Effects of plastic on Human Health and environment.
http://dx.doi.org/10.14419/ijh.v6i1.8655.
This primary source assisted in understanding how plastic can impact upon Human
health. This resource is a Academic Research article from the International journal of
Health. It discusses how numerous plastic products contain many chemical and
hazardous substances, that pose serious risks for human health and the environment.
Furthering this, it discusses how human health risks from plastics can stem from the
monomeric chemicals and the additive chemicals. There are several toxic materials that
are secreted by plastics. This article illumined the impact of human health and provided
scientific information to justify how the chemicals in plastic can affect human health.
Primary Source 2:
SECONDARY SOURCE 1: ‘Are You eating Plastic For Dinner?’|National Geographic.
https://youtu.be/FjT8GG0ETQg.
This secondary source is a 3D animated short film about the health effects of plastic assisted me in developing answering
the question of how plastic pollution can impact upon human health and the hazardous chemicals that are utilized to
enhance the elasticity and fire resistance of the plastic. This animation dives into how our production and usage of
plastics has affected marine species deaths and thus this has increased human health risks. Furthering this, it explores
possible long-term solutions. Motion graphic artist Andreas Tanner uses his compelling infographics to educate viewers
on all aspects of plastic production, consumption, and breakdown. “Due to particular currents in the Pacific Ocean, a new
continent has been born: a mass of plastic waste the size of Europe.” Tanner also offers ideas for alternative and
sustainable buying habits to reduce our reliance on plastic.

SECONDARY SOURCE 2: Plastic Diet Animation:Educational Video

https://youtu.be/0i_s373r_u8.
This video is an educational animation presented by Plastic Soup, that calls for action to reduce plastic pollution. It
presents the notion that if plastic pollution continues, then there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. It discusses how
plastic never disappears, rather it breaks down into microplastics. They discuss that microplastics are what effects human
health and that we inhale, drink and eat plastic everyday. This animation assisted me with understanding of how
microplastics cause the
Guided Question 4:

How Does plastic

pollution affect the
ocean ecosystem
and marine life
within it?
GENERIC SOURCES
The generic primary and secondary sources that would be beneficial to
explore and further my understanding of this inquiry question regarding
waste management would include newspaper articles/reports,
interviews, legislation/regulations, government documents, books,
journal articles, news reports and educational videos regarding this
topic. These sources can be effectively used to explore and enhance
understanding of the wicked problem of Plastic pollution, using an
inquiry process to explore and further understanding of this wicked
problem.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
PRIMARY SOURCE: 1:
https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics.
This source is a Issues Brief from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This Issue Brief discusses the issue of marine plastic pollution and provides recent data on the amount of
plastic debris being produced yearly and the amount of plastic debris ended up in the ocean. It explains the
impacts of plastic pollution upon the marine environment and the effect is can have on marine life. It also provides
useful information about how plastic debris impacts upon human food consumption and human health. This resource
opened my eyes to how widespread plastic debris is and how harmful it is for marine life. This is a valuable source that
extended my knowledge of the wicked problem being explored, through this inquiry.
PRIMARY SOURCE 2:
Plastic Pollution: Interview with Marine Scientist Jennifer Lavers. 
https://youtu.be/m0LK1shwUg.
This interview by Jennifer Lavers from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies furthered my understanding of the
topic of plastic pollution and the effect on ocean ecosystems and the marine life within it. Throughout the interview, Dr
Jennifer Lavers discusses the impact of plastic pollution upon Heritage listed, Henderson Island, which used to be free
of plastic pollution, though 18 tonnes of plastic debris was found of the island last year. She explains that plastic debris
from all around the world is being distributed from currents from the top of the globe to the bottom of the globe.
has in the war against plastic waste and the negative impact it is currently having on our marine environment. This
video made me more aware of how plastic waste is distributed throughout the ocean and that other islands are
suffering the same fate. Most of the plastic found was everyday consumer products.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
:
SECONDARY SOURCE 1: ‘A Plastic Ocean- Documentary’.
https://youtu.be/yog7qmGZIlQ.
This secondary source is a documentary found on Netflix and YouTube that was created about the accumulation of floating
plastic debris in the oceans and highlights the consequences of this form of pollution on the marine environment. This
documentary begins with Australian journalist Craig Leeson filming about the elusive blue whale, all around the world.
Whilst conducting the filming, he makes a shocking discovery. He finds excessive amounts of plastic pollution in what
should be pristine waters. The documentary turns it focus from blue whales into discovering and uncovering information
about plastic pollution and its effect on the marine ecosystem and marine life. Craig Lesson, along with a team of
scientists, a free diver and researchers, explore the increasing fragility of our oceans and they uncover alarming truths
about plastic pollution. Through their discoveries they reveal working solutions that can be put into immediate effect. This
documentary has become the most successful documentary. This primary resource assisted with answering the guided
question as it highlights the seriousness of the effects of plastic pollution on the marine ecosystem and the life within it. It
utilises real-life footage of ocean pollution and the damaging effects that the plastic can have on the marine animals. This
secondary source assisted with developing an conceptual understanding about the harmful effects of plastic pollution on
the ocean ecosystem and the marine life within it.
SECONDARY SOURCE 2: ‘A Plastic Wave’- Documentary
https://youtu.be/9-dpv2xbFyk
This secondary source is a documentary found on YouTube that was created by a photographer in England ng more and
more plastic wash ashore his beloved home beach. In a bid to discover the route of this problem he embarks on a journey
of discovery to educate himself and understand more about the problem. He travels to India and finds that numerous
beaches are extremely plastic waste and are no longer safe for humans to swim in or drink from. This documentary is a
great resource to advocate for taking action towards plastic pollution.