NSW Environmental Protection Agency NSW Government
 

2024–25 litter data for NSW

This report details the findings from the NSW Key Littered Items Study (KLIS) for 2024–25.

The report provides information on the composition of litter found in estuaries along the NSW coast, and on progress towards the NSW litter reduction targets of a 30% reduction in plastic litter by 2025, and a 60% reduction in all litter by 2030.

Progress is measured using KLIS, by comparing the NSW average for the current financial year against a baseline, which is calculated by averaging all the NSW surveys in 2018 and 2019.

The 2025 plastic litter reduction target is achieved.

  1. In 2024–25:
    • Plastic litter density has fallen by 45% against the baseline
    • All litter density has fallen by 42%.
  2. The single use plastic (SUP) bans under the NSW Plastics Action Plan came into effect in July and November of 2022. The plastic target was first met in the financial year (2022–23) at 55% below baseline data. However, the year-to-year data was highly variable at that point in time, and impacted by COVID-19 and La Nina weather events in the same period. It was not possible to establish the achievement of the target until it could be confirmed with longer-term data.
  3. In 2024–25, along with meeting the 2025 target, we established a 3-year trend – from July 2022 to June 2025 plastic litter density has averaged at 44% below the baseline, and all litter at 39% below the baseline.
  4. The gradual reduction in density of SUP items, which was first observed in the 2022–23 KLIS figures, continues in 2024–25 and helps to explain overall plastic litter reductions. This analysis uses data on banned lightweight plastic shopping bags, plastic plates and cutlery, plastic straws and foam takeaway packing.
    • These identified SUP litter items represented 15% of all litter density in 2018–19, 9% of litter in 2022–23 just following the bans, and 5% of litter now in 2024–25.
  5. Using an average density of plastic items across 2018-2019 as a baseline, also gives an indication of how the SUP ban contributed to achieving the plastic target, as follows:
    • Banned SUP litter went from 19% below baseline just before the bans in 2021–22, to 70% below just after in 2022–23, and is now 81% below in 2024–25.
    • In comparison, all other plastic litter (i.e., excluding the banned SUP items) went from 4% above the baseline just before the bans in 2021–22, to 53% below, just after in 2022–23, and is now 38% below in 2024–25.
  6. While the SUP ban made a significant impact, it was not this alone that helped achieve the plastic target, but the program as a whole.

High-level findings

  • In 2024–25, the density of littered items fell by 22% since 2023–24 (from 142 items per 1000m2 in 2023–24, to 110 items per 1000m2 in 2024–25).
  • The volume of litter fell by 13% since 2023–24 (from 9.41 litres per 1000m2 in 2023–24, to 8.20 litres in 2024–25).
  • The density of plastic littered items fell by 18% since 2023–24 (from 107 items per 1000m2 in 2023–24, to 88 items per 1000m2 in 2024–25).
  • The volume of plastic litter fell by 19% since 2023–24 (from 6.39 litres per 1000m2 in 2023–24, to 5.16 litres per 1000m2 in 2024–25).
  • By category, takeaway and beverage items (24%) were the biggest contributor to litter density in NSW, followed by confectionary and snacks (20%).
  • By category, CDS eligible beverage containers (39%) are the biggest contributor to litter volume, followed by takeaway and beverage items (33%).
  • Confectionery wrappers and snack bags (19%) were found to be the most-littered item, followed by foil other (9%).
  • By material, plastic items accounted for by far the largest share of total litter, by density (74%) and volume (67%).

Progress towards litter reduction targets

Baseline and targets

The Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 and the NSW Plastics Action Plan have set 2 litter reduction targets for NSW. The baseline for these targets is the average of the 8 quarterly counts across 2018 and 2019 using the KLIS.

Progress towards targets

Target 1: 30% reduction in plastic litter items by 2025

In 2024–25, the number of plastic litter items per 1000m2 decreased by 45% compared to the baseline years (2018–2019). This exceeds the plastic litter target, and represents the third in a row that the target has been met.

Target 2: 60% reduction in all litter items by 2030

In 2024–25, the number of all litter items per 1000m2 had decreased by 42% since the baseline years (2018–2019).

The chart below shows the trends in litter density for plastic litter and all litter since the baseline years. There were wide fluctuations in the annual averages in the three years preceding the 2023–24 financial year, influenced by a combination of the effects of COVID-19 and La Nina weather events. In recent years, this trend seems to have settled out somewhat, showing an overall decline in litter densities since the baseline years.