A 20+ strong Tasmanian clean-up crew dubbed ‘Team Clean’ have spent the last two weeks picking up a whopping 50,000 bits of trash from remote southwest beaches.
Tyres, ropes and buoys made up some of the thousands of pieces of rubbish removed from the beaches inside the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area – with the group finding more than 11,600 items on the worst littered beaches in just one day.
The not-for-profit group has picked up a total 761,222 pieces of rubbish and debris from the area since 1999.
Cleanup team member Jimmy Westley said “hard work, cut feet, sore backs and sunburnt necks” were all part of the journey in the groups day 10 entry into their blog.
“To be part of such an amazing trip, to witness and help protect this beautiful environment, is a real blessing.”
He added that all the trash collected on the trip had been cleaned, counted and was now on its way to its next life to either be recycled or re-purposed.
The group have this year called on the Tasmanian government to do more to fight the plastic wave, with cleanup coordinator Matt Dell telling AAP the use of industrial fishing materials needs to be more tightly regulated.
“We are collecting significant amounts of rubbish from the long line and trawl fishery and as of now, from the industrial fish farming industry,” he said.
“One clear practical step forward is to follow the lead of South Australia and Western Australia and ban bait straps.”
In the past the group have found rubbish from as far away as Japan, South Africa and Korea.
