33 finalists across eight categories
A new category to recognise challenges during the COVID-19 period
Thirty-three Western Australian communities have been named as finalists for the State Title in the Keep Australia Beautiful Council’s 2020 Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards.
Six communities have been announced as finalists for the State title. They are:
Boddington
Greenbushes
Kalgoorlie-Boulder
Kojonup
Narrogin
Port and South Hedland
There are eight categories, including a new category for 2020 to recognise community wellbeing during the COVID-19 period.
Keep Australia Beautiful Council Chairman, Michael Aspinall, said the introduction of the Community Action COVID Projects award acknowledged the challenges communities continue to face due to COVID-19.
“This year has been a challenging year for everyone, and the Community Action COVID Projects award recognises the initiatives taken to care for and connect community members during COVID-19.
“The judges across all categories had a real job selecting the finalists in a quality and diverse field. Every community taking part can feel proud of helping make our state even more beautiful and for promoting positive environmental, social and economic changes that lead to a more sustainable future for their community.”
The Western Australia State winner and category winners will be announced on 27 November 2020 at the Tidy Town Sustainable Communities Awards event in Perth.
The finalists are:
Litter Prevention & Waste Management
Boddington, Denham, Geraldton, Karratha, Narrogin, Port and South Hedland
Young Legends
Albany, Bridgetown, Collie, Greenbushes, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Port and South Hedland
Environmental Sustainability
Boddington, Dumbleyung, Kalgoorlie- Boulder, Kojonup, Port and South Hedland, Wongan Hills
Environmental Education
Boddington, Broome, Kalgoorlie- Boulder, Kojonup, Pia Wadjiri, Wellstead
Heritage & Culture
Albany, Carnarvon, Darkan, Mount Magnet, Narembeen, Narrogin
Community Action & Wellbeing
Albany, Boddington, Narrogin, Wandering, Waroona, Wongan Hills
General Appearance
Gascoyne Junction, Jarlmadangah Burru, Karratha (Dampier), Narrogin, Norseman, Wellstead, Yandeyarra
Community Action COVID Projects
Corrigin, Greenbushes, Kununurra, Marble Bar, Port and South Hedland, Yandeyarra
Keep Australia Beautiful Council’s Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards are funded by the State Government through the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Account, administered by the Waste Authority.
In 2020, Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities awards is additionally supported by Main Roads Western Australia.
Contact: media@dwer.wa.gov.au
Results of the latest National Litter Index (NLI) for Western Australia 2019-20 suggests the 2018 statewide ban on lightweight plastic bags is having a positive impact.
Biannual litter count shows a 16 per cent reduction in number of plastic bags
Decreases seen at major roads/highways, retail precincts and recreational parks
Increases seen at beaches, industrial areas, residential streets and shopping centres
According to the report, based on Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB) litter counts conducted biannually across the State since 2005, a total of 49 lightweight plastic bags were found, compared to 58 in the 2018-19 report and 93 in the 2017-18 report (conducted prior to the ban on lightweight plastic bags).
The result of the NLI also suggest WA’s container deposit scheme, launching on 1 October, is likely to have similarly successful results. While the number of beverage containers counted in the survey was down by 15.2 per cent, those beverage containers eligible under the container deposit scheme still accounted for 40.9 per cent of the volume of litter and 12 per cent of the number of items.
Overall, the NLI shows the number of items of litter per 1,000 square metres (m2 ) decreased by 1.4 per cent, with the volume of litter per 1,000m2 decreasing by 9.4 per cent. The largest reductions were attributed to lower levels of plastic industrial containers, soft drink cans and plastic water and soft drink bottles under one litre. The fall in beverage containers was the main contributor to the decrease in litter counted.
The NLI surveys 151 1000m2 sites across WA, with an area surveyed of 235,966m2 . While city and suburban areas are the primary focus of the survey, a number of regional/rural sites are also surveyed.
In 2019-20 lower levels of litter were counted at recreational parks (-25.5 per cent), car parks (-12.2 per cent) and retail precincts (-11.5 per cent). Higher levels of litter were recorded at beaches (+44.6 per cent), industrial precincts (+13.1 per cent) and residential streets (+9.7 per cent).
Industrial precincts continue to record the highest loads on an item counted basis whereas major roads/highways continue to have the highest estimated loads on a volumetric basis. The most commonly littered items per 1,000 m2 included cigarette butts (2,781), beverage containers (1,038), and takeaway food and beverage containers (1,177).
Comments attributed to KABC Chairman Michael Aspinall
“The results of the survey show we have good reason to be positive about people’s littering behaviours in WA with a continuing downward trend in litter levels seen through successive NLI reports.
“In particular, it’s encouraging to see the decreasing number of littered plastic bags being found and I’m also optimistic of the likely anticipated effect of the container deposit scheme.
“Overall, WA’s litter levels are steadily declining, indicating the changing behaviours and growing understanding in the community of litter and waste issues as well as the impact of interventions and campaigns led by the government and the Keep Australia Beautiful Council (KABC).
“I’m confident the new Litter Prevention Strategy, with its target of a 30 per cent reduction in litter levels within five years, the Containers for Change program as well as the new Be a Great Sort campaign, will maintain and indeed accelerate this downward trend.”
On Friday, 1 November 2019 Mr Liam Michael Tristram appeared in the Joondalup Magistrates Court in relation to a Littering offence that occurred in State Forest in Jandabup in October 2018
Mr Tristram pleaded guilty to the offence and the Magistrate imposed a fine of $800 and ordered costs of $766.40.
On Wednesday, 20 November 2019 Mr John Whenham Alden appeared in the Rockingham Magistrates Court in relation to a Littering offence that occurred in Waikiki in September 2018 as a result of a litter report from a registered litter reporter.
Mr Alden pleaded guilty to the offence and the Magistrate imposed a fine of $300, and ordered that Mr Alden pay the prosecution's costs of $766.40.
On Wednesday, 12 February 2020 Ms Eunice Mary Woodbury appeared in Joondalup Magistrates Court in relation to a Littering offence that occurred in Joondalup in December 2018 as a result of a litter report from a registered litter reporter.
Ms Woodbury was found guilty and was ordered to pay a $200 fine and costs of $941.40.
On Tuesday, 11 February 2020 Mr Grant Charles Willoughby pleaded guilty to a Littering offence that occurred in December 2018 as a result of a litter report from a registered litter reporter.
The Magistrate imposed a $200 fine and ordered Mr Willoughby to pay costs of $550.
On Friday, 5 June 2020 Mr Gerald Francis Stidworthy pleaded guilty to 3 charges of Littering, this was the result of a surveillance operation in State Forest by KABC and DWER investigators.
The Magistrate imposed a $3000 fine and ordered Mr Stidworthy to pay costs of $418.
On Friday, 3 July 2020 Mr George Edward Wates appeared in Joondalup Magistrates Court in relation to a Littering offence that occurred in Wilbinga in January 2019 as a result of surveillance operation by KABC and DWER investigators.
The Magistrate imposed a $350 fine and ordered Mr Wates to pay costs of $300.
Contact: kabc@kabc.wa.gov.au
$59,000 to reduce litter in local communities
Funding grants mark the start of Keep Australia Beautiful Week
Community groups in Western Australia will share in more than $59,000 as part of Keep Australia Beautiful Council's (KABC) Community Litter Grant scheme.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson announced the grants at the start of Keep Australia Beautiful Week for 19 organisations to tackle litter problems in their local communities.
Grant recipients will use the funding for a range of sustainable projects, including beach clean-ups, education campaigns, reducing single-use plastics and cigarette butt litter.
Local governments, community groups, small to medium sized enterprises and schools are eligible to apply for KABC's community litter grants, which are awarded annually.
Keep Australia Beautiful Week, from August 17-23, is to raise awareness about the simple things we can do every day to reduce our impact on the environment and encourage action.
Communities and individuals can get involved in preventing and cleaning up litter through Keep Australia Beautiful WA programs, including Adopt-a-Spot, Tidy Towns, Clean Schools, Community Clean-ups and by becoming a litter reporter. Go to http://www.kabc.wa.gov.au for more information.
Comments attributed to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:
"These Keep Australia Beautiful Council grants support community projects to reduce litter and change littering behaviour in our beautiful State.
"This year's successful projects are a diverse collection of ideas and projects to involve people at a community level to adopt anti-litter strategies.
"Encouraging communities to come up with their own ideas to prevent and clean up litter will result in cleaner and healthier local environments."
List of successful recipients is available here:
A new target of 30 per cent reduction in litter levels within five years has been set with the release of the Keep Australia Beautiful Council Litter Prevention Strategy for Western Australia 2020-2025.
The five-year strategy sets four strategic objectives:
The new litter prevention strategy is borne out of the excellent results achieved by the strategy between 2015 and 2020. The litter reduction target set in the 2015-20 strategy was for a 25 per cent reduction from the level of litter in 2012-13. Western Australia exceeded this target, achieving a 41 per cent reduction between 2012-13 and 2018-19.
The strategy is being released during Keep Australia Beautiful Week which runs from August 17-23.
The McGowan Government has undertaken extensive community consultation over the past two years on actions to address litter and single-use plastics, including a ban on lightweight plastic bags, and the introduction of the container deposit scheme, Containers for Change, which is due to start on October 1, 2020. Containers for Change is expected to further reduce litter over the life of this strategy.
Litter has a serious impact on the natural environment. One of the key objectives of the new strategy is to increase community understanding of the impacts of litter.
Even organic matter can take months to break down. It attracts animals to the roadside, which can be lethal for them and dangerous for motorists. It is also harmful for pets and wildlife to ingest decomposing rubbish.
Plastics have an especially devastating impact on animals and marine life, and cigarette butts remain in the environment for up to 12 years. Cigarette butts remain one-third of the litter items counted every year in Western Australia.
Comments attributed to Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:
"Western Australians are rightly proud of our beautiful State and we all want to make sure we focus on ensuring the cities, suburbs and towns we live in are clean, liveable environments.
"This litter prevention strategy is grounded in the community's effort to tackle litter. There are more than 43,000 Keep Australia Beautiful Council volunteers and more than 15,000 registered litter reporters in WA participating in litter prevention and community clean-ups, and they all need our support.
"The strategy will increase community understanding of the impacts of litter and the flow-on effects on our rivers and oceans, to bring about behavioural change."