Within Australia and globally, there is unprecedented job loss and economic instability. Australian Government initiatives that can be implemented immediately to create jobs and ‘boost’ the Australian Economy and provide other tangible benefits should be considered as a priority. Stormwater NSW and Ocean Protect are calling on the Federal Government to establish and work towards a ‘Zero Litter to Ocean’ target for Australia. Achieving this target would mean that any pollutant larger than five millimetres (like a cigarette butt) would be prevented from flowing to any waterway or ocean from any currently ‘high litter generating area’ within Australia.
Key Actions
Enhance existing litter reduction strategies
Appropriate management of existing stormwater treatment assets
Require best practice stormwater quality management for all new development
Installation and management of new stormwater treatment assets in high litter generating areas
$5.7 billion investment over ten years
Key Benefits
Australian-made and owned technologies: Appropriate and cost-effective technologies associated with this strategy can be 100% Australian made by Australian owned groups, using equipment and materials almost entirely sourced from within Australia.
Scalability: The target is applicable to all populated areas of Australia. Five local governments in Australia have recently committed to and are working towards the target
Shovel ready: Key actions can be implemented immediately and cost-effectively
Cleaner waterways, beaches and oceans: Achieving this target will stop an average of approximately 600 wheelie bins of plastic every day entering Australia’s oceans and waterways
Job creation: approximately 7400 jobs will be created by the solutions associated with this target over the first ten years alone.
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