Litter is controllable: witness Singapore which is considered by many to be the cleanest country in the world. It is the method, means and cost of control that are at issue.
Cars aren't dumped or fruit peelings dropped of their own accord. Human behaviour is the litter culprit. The former action demands premeditation. It is an offence and is anti-social. Casual dropping of peelings and packaging is more likely to be the result of careless or thoughtless behaviour.
Subsequent wind or rain intensifies the problem and leads to pollution of roads, waterways and other public places.
The Causes of Litter
Packaging is about 72 percent of the total litter count (28% by volume)*.
Its light weight, particularly paper and plastics, generally considered a blessing in terms of waste minimisation and resource conservation, makes it the ideal play-thing for wind and water, and thus much more likely to be prevalent in litter analyses such as those conducted by Clean Up Australia.
There is no excuse for littering. Its clean up is a significant cost to local government (in NSW, it is estimated that councils spend annually over $20 million on litter control and prevention); its potential damage to our fauna and landscape is a major concern. This concern is shared by the packaging industry.
Litter arises as a result of deliberate and careless human behaviour. It is also caused by preventable occurrences such as mishandled domestic, commercial and industrial refuse; poor loading or unloading of vehicles and uncovered or insecure loads. It is spread by wind, water, traffic, animals. The origin of litter is not always readily apparent.
* "The Litter Stream - Content, Sources and Dynamics", KAB National Association Inc. (1993) |
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The Control of Litter
Litter control is one area where the individual can actively make a positive difference to the environment. Clean Up Australia or the World programs reveal the extent of the problem, but unless they shake the community's passive acceptance of litter in our environment, will do little to control it.
Public education campaigns such as those undertaken by Keep Australia Beautiful, which incidentally go beyond litter control, are instrumental in bringing about behavioural change and litter control. Programs must have a number of components to ensure success:
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Regular, well organised rubbish and litter collection systems which include well constructed bins to withstand animal scavenging but large enough to hold the contents. People are known to be less likely to litter in the absence of litter.
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Clear lines of responsibility for cost-effective litter control. This allows resources to be concentrated where most needed.
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Ongoing public education campaigns. These must be as visual and memorable as the litter they are trying to defeat.
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Legislation which is clear, understandable and strictly enforceable.Industry plays a vital role in supporting promotional campaigns, either by developing their own, by encouraging correct disposal practices, by providing recovery facilities and by actively supporting bodies such as Keep Australia Beautiful.
Packaging is not designed to litter. Its visual impact as litter is disproportionately large. Litter counts are usually based on item counts rather than weight or volume.
Awareness of packaging as litter has led to calls for packaging bans, levies or discrimination through the imposition of deposits.
At best these are ineffective piecemeal approaches and are short-sighted political responses. Where they have been introduced they have been shown to incur other unforeseen costs. Because of an incomplete approach to the problem, there has been little overall litter reduction and no reduction in management costs to local authorities but increased costs and restricted freedom of choice to consumers.
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