Thursday, 31 January 2019 

Sea Shepherd Australia's Marine Debris Campaign strongly supports Cash-for-Container Schemes around the country to combat the growing tide against plastic pollution, including the latest Containers-for-Change in Queensland.

IMPACTS of plastic pollution on the environment has been a real concern to the Queensland 
Government who have recently recognised the issues and the devastating impact plastic is having on the marine ecosystem by implementing a Cash-for-Containers Scheme in November.

Queensland is home to diverse marine life with the iconic Great Barrier Reef situated just off the coast.

The government has, thankfully, put in place important policy changes to address the problem. These changes have included making balloon releases a littering offence, and introducing a ban on lightweight single-use plastic bags.

Last year, they took one step further and introduced Containers-for-Change, a scheme which gives value to used containers that can be returned for cash and recycled.

If you live in Queensland, or just visiting, you can collect containers such as cans and bottles and get a 10 cent refund on each container that you deposit at specific collection centres.

In Queensland, our Marine Debris teams operate in Townsville, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and the Gold coast and so far have conducted 60 clean-ups and engaged well-over 2200 volunteers.

Across the country, our Marine Debris Campaign has been operating for 3 years and we are very proud to have conducted over 400 clean-ups!

Our team leaders and participants are all volunteers, who give up their time freely at the weekends to remove this threat to precious marine life. 

Plastic is a devastating problem for all marine life. It can cause entanglement and ingestion and we now have enough plastic in the ocean to circle the earth 425 times.

We expect to see this problem escalate as plastic production is set to increase globally by 40 per cent over the next ten years. 50 per cent of this production is being used to make single-use items, which are used just for a few minutes.

We will need to work harder and longer to keep this toxic substance out of the marine environment.

Now is your chance to become an ocean defender! You can use this Cash-for-Container Deposit Scheme to donate your refunds to Sea Shepherd Australia so we can continue to clean-up our beaches and waterways and stem the tide of plastic pollution.

Just use the ID C10028177 when depositing your containers.

Our Marine Debris Campaign is also actively supporting container deposit legislation around the country.

Victoria and Tasmania are the only states or territories in Australia not to implement a scheme, and Western Australia is planning to in January 2020.

To find out more about how you can donate to us via this scheme, please read this poster below and visit Containers-for-Change: https://www.containersforchange.com.au/