Environment Minister Reece Whitby has helped launch Clean up Australia Day in Western Australia by joining a beach clean-up event at the CY O'Connor foreshore in North Coogee.
The clean-up is the 12th Clean Up Australia Day event organised by the City of Cockburn, and the third time it has run in collaboration with the Keep Australia Beautiful Council (KABC).
The litter collected by volunteers will be audited and added to Tangaroa Blue Foundation's Australian Marine Debris Initiative database. Since 2004, more than 7 million pieces of data have been added to the database, creating a comprehensive overview of the amounts and types of marine debris affecting beaches around the country.
Clean Up Australia Day is the nation's largest community-based environment event, with more than one million volunteers participating across Australia. KABC has recently entered into an alliance with its organisers to help further promote clean-up activities in Western Australia.
The State Government is committed to reducing waste and has shown its support through measures such as the implementation of phase one of the nation-leading Plan for Plastics, investing $35 million into recycling infrastructure, providing $7.5 million in WasteSorted Grants for new infrastructure and programs, the introduction of the Food Organics Garden Organics three-bin food waste system and the commencement of a container deposit scheme - Containers for Change.
Since October 2020, more than one billion containers have been returned and saved from landfill through Containers for Change, with more than $3.7 million donated to charities and community groups. The program has also created 733 jobs.
As stated by Environment and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby:
"Our initiatives including Plan for Plastics and Containers for Change are already having a significant impact on reducing waste and it shows that when the whole community works together, outstanding results can be achieved."
"I would like to thank everyone for their dedication to lowering the amount of waste that ends up in landfall and for ensuring that our parks and oceans are litter-free."
As stated by Fremantle MLA Simone McGurk:
"Fremantle is a quintessential coastal community that cares about environmental issues - and events like this showcase that commitment to protecting our beaches and oceans.
"While it is critical that Government provides leadership on these issues, it is the work of community members that impacts the most change and helps to conserve our environment for future generations."
As stated by Cockburn MLA David Scaife:
"I am really proud to see how our community has taken on the challenge of reducing waste -whether that is at home, or in our public spaces.
"As a Government, we are committed to finding ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste and it is terrific to see overwhelming community support for this."
