Beaches Much Cleaner as Litterbugs Get the Message

A supplied image obtained Feb. 25, 2023 of people sorting through rubbish from beaches in Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area. Two dozen beach cleaners found 70 metres of black industrial fish feeding pipes, hundreds of metres of tangled rope, buoys, floats and other rubbish across 12 beaches. AAP Image/Oscar Wyatt/Tean Clean

Fewer plastic wrappers and bottle tops are turning up on Australian beaches, with coastal litter down by more than one-third in a decade.

A 16 percent jump in areas completely free from plastic waste has also been recorded by the national science agency.