Clean seas - turn the tide on plastic

City of Newcastle has endorsed the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign to phase out all single-use plastic from City-managed enterprises, activities and events on City land by 2020. This included plastic straws, balloons, promotional paraphernalia, plastic signage and single-use water bottles.

Australia joined the movement in October 2018, presenting ambitious targets: that 100 per cent of packaging will be reusable, compostable or recyclable by 2025; 70 per cent will be recycled or composted by 2025; and that problematic and unnecessary single-use packing will be phased out through design, innovation or introduction of alternatives.

The announcement made Australia the 56th country to sign up to the Clean Seas campaign.

UN Environment launched Clean Seas (#CleanSeas on social media) in February 2017, with the aim of engaging governments, the general public and the private sector in the fight against marine plastic pollution. Over five years, the campaign seeks to address the root-cause of marine litter by targeting the production and consumption of non-recoverable and single-use plastic. To do this, the community needs to be aware, engaged and active in addressing the problem in their daily lives.

By connecting individuals, civil society groups, industry and governments, UN Environment is a catalyst for change, transforming habits, practices, standards and policies around the globe to dramatically reduce marine litter and the harm it causes. The campaign contributes to the goals of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter, a voluntary open-ended partnership for international agencies, governments, businesses, academia, local authorities and non-governmental organisations hosted by UN Environment.