Port Phillip Bay Beach Litter Survey 2003–04

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Publication 966

February 2005

A report for EPA Victoria

Prepared by Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Phillip Bay was 3346. This shows a decrease of 22 per cent when compared to the results from The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria 2002–03, which found 4267 litter items. commissioned Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria (KABV) to investigate the amount of litter on twelve Using this method, the three most littered beaches Port Phillip Bay beaches during the summer period in 2003–04 were: (December–March) of 2003–04. • Sandringham (562 litter items): this shows KABV is a not-for-profit community organization an increase of 100 per cent from the amount focusing on the promotion of anti-litter messages. of littered items found in 2002–03 Surveys are undertaken annually and will enable • Mordialloc (540 litter items): a decrease of EPA Victoria to track long-term patterns in litter at 29 per cent from 2002–03 these beaches while enabling the identification of • Port Melbourne (366 litter items): this litter sources and facilitating the targeting of litter- shows an increase of 45 per cent from reduction initiatives. 2002–03. Each municipality that surrounds Melbourne’s Port The three most littered products found in the visible Phillip Bay is represented by one or more locations surveys during 2003–04 were: as part of the EPA’s Beach Report program. The twelve selected beaches were: Williamstown, • cigarette butts (1786 litter items), Werribee South, Eastern (Geelong), Queenscliff, accounting for 53 per cent of all litter Sorrento, Rye, Mount Martha, Seaford, Mordialloc, counted in 2003–04. This result shows a Sandringham, St Kilda and Port Melbourne. These decrease in the number of items of 39 per beaches were selected because they were in high- cent from 2002–03 usage areas of Port Phillip Bay. • other plastic (222 litter items), accounting KABV surveys each beach using three types of survey for seven per cent of all litter counted in methodology: full-scale, visible and visual site rating. 2003–04. This shows a decrease in the number of items of 23 per cent from 2002– This report summarises the results from surveys 03 conducted over the 2003–04 summer and also compares these results with previous years. Key • plastic bottle/can tops (107 litter items), findings for the 2003–04 reporting period follow. accounting for three per cent of all litter counted in 2003–04. This shows a decrease Key findings for 2003–04 in the number of items of 15 per cent from Visible survey (litter counted but not removed in a 2002–03. 48 m2 area) Using this method, the litter survey conducted on 12 Using this method, the number of items of litter January 2004 recorded the most litter items found found in 2003–04 for all beaches surveyed in Port during the 2003–04 season. A total of 441 litter

EPA Victoria

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

items were found on the 12 Port Phillip Bay beaches 04. This shows a decrease of 49 per cent during the fifth survey. The survey date was when compared with 2002–03 immediately following heavy rain. • Plastic bottle/can tops (143 litter items), The beach that showed the most improvement from accounting for four per cent of all litter the 2002–03 season was Williamstown, with an counted in 2003–04. This shows a decrease 89 per cent decrease in the amount of litter items of three per cent when compared with found in 2003–04. The purchase of new beach- 2002–03. cleaning machinery and an increase in the frequency Using this method, the highest amount of litter that and timing of cleaning has contributed to this result. was recorded in 2003–04 was in the tenth survey, Full-scale survey (litter counted and removed in a when 520 items of litter were found on Port Phillip 48 m2 area) Bay beaches. The survey was undertaken on 9 March 2004 and was following heavy rains and the Using this method, the number of items of litter Labour Day weekend. found in 2003–04 for all beaches surveyed in the Port Phillip Bay area was 3585. This shows an The beach that showed the most improvement in the increase of one per cent when compared to the 2003–04 season was Werribee South, with 85 per results of 2002–03, which found 3557 litter items. cent fewer items found when compared with 2002– 03. Using this method, the three most littered beaches in 2003–04 were: Visual ratings (Beach rated between 0 and 10 (0=no litter, 10=beach covered in litter)) • Sandringham (546 litter items): this shows an increase of 35 per cent from 2002–03 The worst site rating in 2003–04 was Sandringham beach, with an average rating of 2.6 per survey. This • Port Melbourne (457 litter items): an shows an 86 per cent increase when compared to increase of 86 per cent from 2002–03 2002–03, when the average site rating was 1.4. • Sorrento (426 litter items): this shows an The best site rating in 2003–04 was Werribee South increase of 38 per cent from 2002–03. beach, with a site rating of zero per survey. The The three most littered products found in the full- average site rating in 2002–03 was 0.85 per survey. scale surveys during 2003–04 were:

• cigarette butts (1943 litter items), accounting for 54 per cent of all litter counted in 2003–04. This shows a decrease of three per cent from 2002–03

• other plastic (213 litter items), accounting for six per cent of all litter counted in 2003–

Environment Report

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 2 Key findings for 2003–04...... 2 Visible survey ...... 2 Full-scale survey ...... 3 Visual ratings...... 3 1. METHODOLOGY ...... 1 Quality assurance...... 2 2. SUMMARY OF RESULTS...... 2 Visible survey results...... 2 Full-scale survey results...... 4 Visual site ratings...... 5 3. PRODUCT TYPES ...... 6 Visible survey ...... 6 Full-scale survey ...... 7 4. MATERIAL GROUPS ...... 10 Visible survey ...... 10 Full-scale survey ...... 10 5. OBSERVATIONS ...... 10 6. BEACH SUMMARY...... 12 Eastern beach...... 12 Mordialloc beach...... 12 Mount Martha beach ...... 13 Port Melbourne beach ...... 13 Queenscliff beach...... 14 Rye beach...... 15 Sandringham beach ...... 15 Seaford beach ...... 16 Sorrento beach...... 16 St Kilda beach ...... 17 Werribee South beach ...... 17 Williamstown beach ...... 18

EPA Victoria 4

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

1. METHODOLOGY litter result; this could also be attributed to the ‘clean equals clean’ factor. In the 2003–04 season, litter surveys were conducted at Visible litter survey. A 48 m² survey area is Eastern beach in Geelong, Mordialloc, Mount Martha, measured and then all litter in the area is counted Port Melbourne, Queenscliff, Rye, Sandringham, but not removed. The litter remains on the survey Seaford, Sorrento, St Kilda, Werribee South and area to observe the effectiveness of beach cleaning. Williamstown. Three surveys were conducted at each of these beaches, between 1 December 2003 and 31 March Visual ratings survey. A 50 m length of beach is 2004. The survey dates are listed in Table 1. viewed and a visual rating is allocated. Visual ratings are between zero and 10, with a score of zero

Survey Number Survey Date representing a site with no litter and a score of 10 1 20/12/2003 representing a site covered with litter. Visual ratings 2 29/12/2003 provide a quick snapshot of the visual presence of litter on each surveyed beach. 3 2/01/2004 4 5/01/2004 The litter survey data is recorded on KABV survey 5 12/01/2004 sheets and then analysed by product and material 6 19/01/2004 type (see Appendix B for an example of the type of 7 27/01/2004 products in each material group).

8 2/02/2004 In 2002–03 KABV also introduced the weighing of all 9 16/02/2004 litter in the full-scale surveys. This is designed to 10 9/03/2004 assist in measuring the volume of litter found across Table 1: Survey dates 2003–04 the 12 Port Phillip Bay beaches surveyed.

KABV survey teams use three survey methods each The diagram in Figure 1 illustrates a typical Beach time a beach is surveyed: a full-scale survey, a visible Report litter survey layout. litter survey and a visual ratings survey. There are some differences in the litter counts for the visible and full- scale surveys. This is because the surveys are undertaken in different areas of the beach and the full- scale surveys include a litter-removal component.

Full-scale survey. A 48 m² survey area is measured and then all litter in the area is counted, removed and weighed. The litter is removed to enable the surveyors to calculate the regeneration rate (the litter accumulation between surveys). The method of removing litter from the full-scale site can affect the Figure 1: Typical Beach Report survey layout

Environment Report 1 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

The survey methods used in 2003–04 were the Visible survey results same as those used by KABV in previous years. (all litter in the area is counted but not Appendix A lists a full explanation of the beach removed) survey litter methodology. Across all beaches surveyed in Port Phillip Bay, a Quality assurance total of 3346 litter items were found over 10 surveys (in a 48 m² area on each beach) in the visible To ensure data accuracy, the following quality survey. Overall, the amount of litter surveyed has assurance was undertaken. decreased by 22 per cent when compared with Three sites from the 12 were selected and both the results from 2002–03, when a total of 4267 items visual ratings and visible litter surveys were were found. undertaken and recorded. The survey team leader The average amount of litter found over the past five undertook quality assurance litter counts on three years in the visible survey was 3796 items per year; separate occasions over the survey period. this is an average of 316 items per beach. The results obtained by the team leader were then The largest volume of litter items found was at compared with the results obtained by the survey Sandringham beach, where an average of 56 items teams, to ensure there were no variables in the way was recorded per survey. This shows a 100 per cent data was collected. increase from the amount of litter items found in Appendix C lists the 2004 Beach Litter Report quality 2002–03. assurance results. Williamstown beach recorded the largest decrease of litter items found, with a 90 per cent drop. An 2. SUMMARY OF RESULTS average of 152 items per survey was found in 2002– The Beach Report litter surveys include 12 beaches 03, compared to an average of just 15 items per in Port Phillip Bay. These 12 beaches are surveyed survey in 2003–04 (see Appendix O for further 10 times over the summer period with three different details). types of surveys per beach. The products (100 Table 2 shows the average number of litter items per different items) surveyed are then combined into 10 visible survey for each beach from 1999 through to material groups. 2004. The results, explained in detail below, show that the litter levels at these beaches vary from year to year. It should also be noted that weather, rainfall, the number of people visiting a beach and/or the timing of beach cleaning may have an effect on survey results.

EPA Victoria 2 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Average number of litter items per survey area % change Five-year Site name between 02–03 litter average 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 and 03–04 per beach

Eastern 20.4 29.1 21.8 22.0 32.2 + 46.4% 25.1 Mordialloc 24.9 34.1 27.4 76.0 54.0 – 28.9% 43.3 Mt Martha 14.4 18.3 14.1 10.4 14.4 + 38.5% 14.3 Port Melbourne 18.6 26.3 16.9 25.2 36.6 + 45.2% 24.7 Queenscliff 5.9 12.7 7.9 3.1 2.7 – 12.9% 6.5

Rye 21.3 34.1 17.2 21.8 30.8 + 41.3% 25.0 Sandringham 62.0 76.7 38.4 28.1 56.2 + 100.0% 52.3 Seaford 33.9 42.9 23.9 28.3 36.5 + 29.0 % 33.1 Sorrento 7.5 13.3 33.2 20.5 28.1 + 37.1% 20.5 St Kilda 57.8 63.4 23.6 35.2 27.2 – 22.7% 41.4 Werribee Sth 1.7 6.1 7.8 3.8 0.6 – 84.2% 4.0 Williamstown 50.6 61.7 93.7 152.3 15.3 – 90.0% 74.7 12-beach average 26.6 34.9 27.2 35.6 27.9 – 21.6% 30.4

Table 2: Average number of litter items per beach in the visible survey, 1999 to 2004

The highest number of litter items was recorded summer. This is an average of 367 items per survey. during survey 5, on 12 January 2004. The survey The least amount of litter was found in the first followed a weekend of heavy rain and therefore survey, when an average of 20 items was found at increased the amount of litter washed up onto the each beach. This showed an increase of 26 per cent beaches from the stormwater drains. An average of when comparing results from 2002–03. 36.8 items was found per beach, a 27.5 per cent Table 3 shows the average amount of litter found per decrease from 2002–03, which found 50.7 items. visible survey for the past five years. An average of 3670 litter items per year have been

recorded since the 1999–2000

Environment Report 3

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Average number of litter items per survey area % change Five-year litter Survey between 02–03 average per number 1999– 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 and 03–04 survey 2000**

Survey 1 21.7 31.3 17.6 15.7 19.8 + 26.1% 21.2 Survey 2 26.4 34.2 30.1 48.7 23.2 – 52.4% 32.5 Survey 3 29.8 32.8 21.4 57.8 30.0 – 48.1% 34.4

Survey 4 26.0 26.7 23.1 46.6 30.2 – 35.2% 30.5 Survey 5 27.4 43.1 28.6 50.7 36.8 – 27.5% 37.3 Survey 6 26.7 42.4 22.9 37.3 23.5 – 37.0% 30.6 Survey 7 27.5 30.3 36.0 23.9 36.3 + 52.0% 30.8 Survey 8 30.1 34.3 29.9 27.8 27.6 – 0.9% 29.9 Survey 9 29.9 43.1 36.8 29.3 23.6 – 19.4% 32.5 Survey 10 28.9 30.8 26.3 17.8 28.0 + 57.0% 26.4 Averages 27.4 34.9 27.3 35.6 27.9 – 21.6% 30.6

Table 3: Average number of litter items per survey in the visible survey

** Note: the results in Table 3 exclude the first survey in 1999–2000, which was completed in November, outside of the survey times used in this table.

Full-scale survey results cent from the 2002–03 period, when an average of (all litter in the area is counted, removed 40.5 items were found. The second most littered and weighed) beach in 2003–04 was Port Melbourne, with an average of 45.7 items per survey. This shows an A total of 3585 litter items were found during the full- 85.8 per cent increase from 2002–03, when an scale surveys in 2003–04. This showed an increase average of 24.6 items were found per survey. of 0.8 per cent when compared with data from 2002–03, when 3557 items were found on the Werribee South beach was found to have the largest surveyed beaches. decrease of litter items found in 2003–04. The amount of litter found decreased by 85.7 per cent The average amount of litter found over the past five when compared with 2002–03. years in the full-scale survey was 3637 items per year; this is an average of 303 items per beach. Table 4 details the average number of litter items per beach found for the past five years in the full- Sandringham was the most littered beach, with an scale surveys. average of 54.6 items found per survey. This shows an increase of 34.8 per

EPA Victoria 4 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Average number of litter items per survey area Five-year % change litter Site name between 02–03 1999– average 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 and 03–04 2000 per beach

Eastern 13.7 29.0 28.0 22.6 34.0 + 50.4% 25.5 Mordialloc 29.4 38.3 26.1 67.3 42.0 – 37.6% 40.6 Mt Martha 13.6 14.4 12.0 11.8 17.8 + 50.8% 13.9 Port Melbourne 16.6 39.2 20.1 24.6 45.7 + 85.8% 29.2 Queenscliff 6.3 15.5 6.6 2.9 1.8 – 37.9% 6.6 Rye 21.6 41.1 20.4 28.2 31.5 + 11.7% 28.6 Sandringham 56.4 56.9 32.8 40.5 54.6 + 34.8% 48.2 Seaford 48.0 43.7 24.3 35.2 28.6 – 18.8% 36.0 Sorrento 7.4 13.8 38.5 30.9 42.6 + 37.9% 26.6 St Kilda 53.0 79.5 25.9 32.6 25.9 – 20.6% 43.4 Werribee Sth 2.5 4.2 5.9 2.8 0.4 – 85.7% 3.2 Williamstown 37.4 59.5 49.2 56.3 33.6 – 40.3% 47.2 12-beach average 25.5 36.3 24.2 29.6 29.9 + 0.8% 29.1

Table 4: Average number of litter items per beach in the full-scale survey

In 2002–03, the litter survey team weighed all items Visual site ratings surveyed in the full-scale survey. The same was also (beach is viewed and a visual rating of 0– done during the 2003–04 surveys so that the 10 is allocated) volume of litter found could be measured from year The average site rating for 2003–04 was 1.3 per to year. beach per survey, showing a litter decrease of 23 per The weight of litter items removed from the beaches cent when compared with average ratings in 2002– surveyed has increased by 31 per cent from 2.4 kg in 03. 2002–03 to 3.135 kg in 2003–04. This increase in The average site rating for the past five years is 2.1 weight is largely due to an increase in larger items per beach. This rating is given on the amount of (that is, plastic bottles, metal cans and glass items). visible litter on a 50-metre area on each beach. The An average of 200 grams of litter per beach was beach rating can vary from year to year due to found in 2002–03 compared with an average of 258 changing weather, different survey teams rating the grams per beach in 2003–04 (48 m² area per beach and timing of beach cleaning. beach). The average site rating has improved every year since 1999–2000, as shown in Figure 2.

Environment Report 5 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE RATING PER BEACH AT 12 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACHES - 1999 TO 2004 3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

AVG RATING 1.0

0.5

0.0 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure 2: Average site rating from 1999 to 2004

Sandringham had the highest (worst) average site survey, as different areas of beach are surveyed. The rating in 2003–04, with an average of 2.6 per results are detailed below. survey. This has increased from a rating of 1.4 in the Visible survey 2002–03 period. The most littered product in 2003–04 was cigarette St Kilda had the second highest site rating this year, butts, accounting for 53 per cent of all litter in the with an average rate of 2.2 per survey. This shows a visible survey (178.6 items per survey). decrease of 19 per cent from 2002–03, when St Kilda beach recorded an average rating of 2.7. Other plastic was the second most littered product, at seven per cent of all litter in the visible survey (22 The lowest (best) site rating was recorded at items per survey). Werribee South beach, with an average rating of 0, a decrease from 2002–03, when the average site Cigarette butts, other plastic and plastic bottle/can rating of 0.9 was recorded. tops have been the most littered items out of the hundred products surveyed in the visible survey for 3. PRODUCT TYPES each of the past five years. Figure 3 details this information. During the beach surveys KABV recorded the types There was a 64 per cent decrease in the amount of of litter on each beach. The number and type of cigarette butts found in 2003–04 when compared to products found can vary from survey to survey and the litter count from 2002–03. This was mainly due year to year. This could be related to many things, to the decrease in the amount of cigarette butts including weather, rainfall and timing of beach found in Williamstown in 2003–04, which had a cleaning. Results can also be affected by the type of

EPA Victoria 6 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

decrease of 91 per cent from 2002–03. in 2002–03, when 200.9 items per survey were Williamstown recorded the most cigarette butts found. found in 2002–03 with 1250 cigarette butts, On average, over the past five years 2001.2 cigarette compared to 110 in 2003–04. (See Appendix O for butts have been found at all surveyed beaches more detail.) during the part of the full-scale surveys (48 m2 area On average, over the past five years 2233.9 cigarette per beach). butts have been found at all surveyed beaches each Other plastic was the second most littered product year. There has been a decrease of seven per cent in at six per cent in the full-scale survey, with 21.3 the number of cigarette butts found during the items found per survey. visible surveys of 2003–04 when compared to There was an increase of 27 per cent in the number 1999–2000. of cigarette butts found in the full-scale survey in Full-scale survey 2003–04 when compared to the litter count from 1999–2000. Other plastic items have decreased by The most (worst) littered product in 2003–04 in the four per cent in 2003–04 from 1999–2000. full-scale survey was cigarette butts, accounting for 54.2 per cent of all products surveyed. The 194.3 Cigarette butts and other plastic items have been items found per survey showed a decrease of three the most littered products for each of the past five per cent when compared to the cigarette butt count years in the full-scale surveys, as shown in Figure 4.

Environment Report 7 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TOP 10 MOST LITTERED PRODUCTS AT 12 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACHES IN THE VISIBLE SURVEY - 1999 TO 2004 320 300 280 Cigarette Butts 260 Other Plastic 240 220 Bottle/Can Tops - Plastic 200 Straws 180 Other Paper 160 Bottle/can tops - Metal 140 Lollipop Sticks 120 String & Rope AVG NO OF ITEMS NO AVG 100 Tissues/serviettes 80 Confectionary Wrappers-Paper 60 40 All other items 20 0 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure 3: Most littered product in the visible surveys, 2003–04 period

EPA Victoria 8 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TOP 10 MOST LITTERED PRODUCTS AT 12 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACHES IN THE FULL-SCALE SURVEY - 1999 TO 2004

240 220 Cigarette Butts 200 Other Plastic 180 Bottle/Can Tops - Plastic 160 Straws 140 Confectionary Wrappers-Paper 120 Lollipop Sticks 100 Other Glass 80 Ice Cream Sticks

AVG NO OF ITEMS 60 Confectionary wrappers - Plastic 40 Bottle/can tops - Metal 20 All other items 0 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure 4: Most littered product in the full-scale surveys, 2003–04 period

Environment Report 9 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

4. MATERIAL GROUPS Plastic items (straws, confectionery wrappers, bottle tops) accounted for 24 per cent of the full-scale Material groups are defined according to their survey. These plastic items were the second most constituent elements. Appendix B details which type littered product group in 2003–04. An average of of products make up each material group. 82.4 plastic items were found per survey over the past five years. Visible survey The ceramics group was the least littered material The most littered material type was cigarette butts, group, recording zero items in the full-scale survey with an average of 178.6 items per visible survey. for all beaches surveyed in 2003–04. The largest Cigarette butts accounted for 52 per cent of all increase in 2003–04 from 2002–03 in the full-scale visible survey items. Over the past five years an survey, of 143 per cent, was found in the wood average of 214.8 cigarette butts have been found per group. In 2002–03, the average number of wood survey across the 12 Port Phillip Bay beaches. items found was 4.2 items per survey compared to Plastic items (such as straws, confectionery 10.2 items in 2003–04. wrappers, bottle tops) accounted for 22 per cent of all items in the visible survey. These plastic items 5. OBSERVATIONS were the second most littered product group in 2003–04. An average of 82.4plastic items was When comparing litter-count figures to the amount found per survey over the past five years. of rainfall during the survey period, the litter survey team made a number of observations. The ceramics group was the least littered material group, recording a total of two items in the visible Over the past five years, only a small variance of survey for all beaches surveyed in 2003–04. approximately 400 items (visible survey) of litter between the highest rainfall (in 1999–2000) and the The largest increase in the visible surveys of 2003– lowest rainfall (in 2002–03) has been evident. 04 from 2002–03 was the metal group, which had Figure 10 shows the rainfall for the December to an increase of 94 per cent, from an average of 5.52 March period and the total amount of litter found items per survey in 2002–03 to 10.7 items in 2003– per survey period. 04.

Full-scale survey

In the full-scale survey, the most littered material type was cigarette butts, with an average of 194.3 items per survey. Cigarette butts accounted for 54 per cent of all full-scale survey items. The average number of litter items found over the past five years was 192.4 cigarette butts per survey.

EPA Victoria 10 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

COMPARI SON OF RAI NFALL AND LI TTER I TEMS AT 12 BAYSIDE BEACHES

500 L 450 400 350 300 Rainfall(mm) 250 Visible Surv ey 200 Full-scale Survey 150 100 50

AVG LITTER ITEMS/RAINFAL LITTER AVG 0 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure 5: Rainfall from 1 December to 31 March compared to litter totals for the past five years1.

Higher rainfall often means that there is less traffic on the Bay area beaches, as illustrated in Figure 10. On all occasions when the rainfall is higher there is less litter found on the surveyed beaches. In three of the five years surveyed, a large number of days were either wind affected and/or wet; affecting our behaviour and beach visitation.

In 2000–01 and 2002–03 there was a decrease in the amount of rainfall and an increase in the amount of litter recorded in beach litter survey areas.

During the 2003–04 survey period, it was observed that new cleaning equipment was used for Williamstown, Port Melbourne and St Kilda. Of these beaches, Williamstown was the only beach to show a significant improvement in litter found. Photos 1 and 2: New beach-cleaning equipment on Williamstown beach

Environment Report 11 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

6. BEACH SUMMARY count average was 34 items per survey compared to 22.6 items per survey during The Beach Report litter surveys include 12 2002–03. In the full-scale litter count there beaches in Port Phillip Bay. The summary of was an increase of 138 per cent in 2003–04 results, explained in detail below, shows when compared to results from 1999–2000. that the litter levels at these beaches vary Eastern beach was ranked as the fifth most from year to year. This could be related to littered beach in both the visible and full- many things, including weather, rainfall, the scale surveys. number of people visiting the beach and See Appendix D for survey data and results. timing of beach cleaning.

Mordialloc beach Eastern beach Mordialloc beach is located in the City of Eastern beach is in the Greater City of Kingston. The beach is located alongside a Geelong and is a high-use area with a promenade, which contributes to the promenade and a car park in the immediate amount of litter found on the beach closer to area. Also located nearby is an enclosed the walkway. swimming area, manicured parklands and hire facilities for boats. Kingston City Council launched the ‘Summer by the Bay’ campaign on 10 January at Several festivals were held near Eastern Mordialloc beach2. Kingston Council also beach over the summer period, including supported the Association of Bayside triathlon events. This did not seem to have a Municipalities’ ‘BUTTsOUT’ campaign, which great impact on the amount of litter found, was also launched in January 2004. There as the beach was cleaned after each festival were no obvious decreases in the results of There was an increase in the amount of litter the litter counts after these campaigns were found in both the visible and full-scale launched. surveys over past years. Over the past five The survey team observed that the beach years, the summer of 2003–04 has was cleaned on a regular basis by produced the highest littered results for mechanical cleaning. It was noticed that the Eastern beach. machines travelled quite fast and weren’t The average amount of litter found in the picking up all the litter on the beach. It is visible survey was 32.2 items per survey. believed that if these machines travel more This shows an increase of 46 per cent from slowly they may pick up more of the litter the 2002–03 period, when the average was that is currently left behind, especially 22 items per survey. An increase of 53 per smaller items like cigarette butts. cent was recorded in 2003–04 when At Mordialloc beach, the average amount of compared to results from 1999–2000. litter found in the visible survey was 54 The full-scale survey results increased by items per survey. This shows a decrease of 50 per cent in 2003–04, when the litter

EPA Victoria 12 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

29 per cent from 2002–03, when the The amount of litter recorded at Mount average number of items found was 76 items Martha beach this year has increased in per survey. However, an increase of 111 per comparison with the past two years. cent is recorded for 2003–04 when The average amount of litter found in the compared with figures from 1999–2000. visible surveys was 14.4 items. This was an Mordialloc beach was ranked the second increase of 38 per cent from 2002–03, when most littered beach for the second the average number of items found was 10.4 consecutive year in the visible survey. items per survey. A decrease of two per cent In the full-scale survey, an average of 42 was recorded for the 2003–04 season when items were found, a decrease of 38 per cent compared with 1999–2000. Mount Martha from 2002–03, when the average number of beach has been ranked the tenth most items found was 67.3. In 2003–04 there was littered beach for the past three years in the an increase of 44 per cent from the litter visible survey. counts recorded in 1999–2000. Mordialloc The average amount of litter found in the beach was ranked the fourth most littered full-scale survey was 17.8 items in 2003–04, beach in the 2003–04 full-scale surveys, compared to 11.8 in 2002–03, an increase of compared to 2002–03 when Mordialloc was 51 per cent. In the full-scale survey there was the most littered beach in the Port Phillip a 30 per cent increase in the amount of litter Bay area. found in 2003–04 when compared to the See Appendix E for survey data and results. litter count in 1999–2000. Mount Martha beach has been ranked the tenth most Mount Martha beach littered beach for the past four years in the Mount Martha is located in Mornington Shire full-scale survey. and is the northernmost beach of the three See Appendix F for survey data and results. surveyed beaches in the Shire. Bathing boxes line the beach area and it was Port Melbourne beach observed by the litter survey teams that the Port Melbourne beach is the northernmost majority of the owners tended to clean up beach in the reporting program on the east the litter surrounding their boxes. side of Port Phillip Bay, and is located near a There are only two bins in close proximity to lifesaving club. The lifesaving club also has the beach and these were overflowing on a small kiosk located on the side of the several occasions. The survey team did not building. see any evidence that the beach had been It was observed on a few occasions that mechanically cleaned, however this may people were dropping their litter around the have occurred after the surveys took place. steps of the lifesaving club and often the Mount Martha beach has been one of the rubbish was wind-blown onto the beach. least littered beaches for the past five years. There is only one bin located on the beach,

Environment Report 13 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

although other bins are located on the The litter count for Queenscliff was very low promenade. due to the lack of people using the beach. Queenscliff beach is mainly used by dog During summer, the beaches are cleaned walkers, as the amount of seaweed prohibits mechanically up to three times per week and people from swimming at the beach. are manually cleaned daily, according to the City of Port Phillip website3. The nearest rubbish bins were located approximately fifty metres away, near a Port Melbourne beach is in the top three of picnic area, which is right next to the service the most littered beaches for both the road. There was no bin signage along the visible and full-scale surveys. beach or the barbecue areas. The amount of litter recorded this year at The amount of litter recorded this year at Port Melbourne beach has increased, Queenscliff beach has decreased compared compared to the two previous years. to the two previous years. The average amount of litter found in the The average amount of litter found in the visible survey was 36.6 items. This shows an visible survey was 2.7 items per survey. This increase of 45 per cent from 2002–03, when is a decrease of 13 per cent from 2002–03, the average number of items found was 25.2 when the average number of items found per survey. When compared to 1999–2000, was 3.1 items per survey. There was a the amount of litter found in 2003–04 has decrease of 53 per cent in 2003–04 increased by 87 per cent. Port Melbourne compared to 1999–2000, when the average beach was ranked the third most littered litter count was 5.7 items per survey. beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 Queenscliff beach was ranked the second period. least littered beach in the visible survey for The average amount of litter found in the the 2003–04 period. full-scale survey was 45.7 items, an 86 per The average amount of litter found in the cent increase from the 24.6 items found in full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 1.8 2002–03. When compared to 1999–2000, items, compared to 2.9 items in the 2002– the amount of litter found in 2003–04 has 03 period. This shows a decrease of 38 per increased by 164 per cent. Port Melbourne cent. A decrease of 71 per cent was seen in beach is ranked the second most littered 2003–04 compared to 1999–2000, when beach in the full-scale survey. the average litter count was 6.1 items per See Appendix G for survey data and results. survey. Queenscliff beach was ranked the second least littered beach in the full-scale Queenscliff beach survey. Queenscliff beach is located in the Borough See Appendix H for survey data and results. of Queenscliff and is the southernmost surveyed beach on the western side of Port Philip Bay.

EPA Victoria 14 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Rye beach Sandringham beach

Rye beach is one of three beaches surveyed The Sandringham beach site is located in in Mornington Shire. Rye beach is one of the the municipality of Bayside City Council. most popular holiday destinations along the Near the survey area is a Mornington peninsula during the summer walkway/promenade and a surf lifesaving period. club.

Rye beach is a high-use area, with a caravan Sandringham beach was the most littered park, picnic areas and car park located on beach in 2003–04 in both the visible and the nearby foreshore. Litter is often left by full-scale surveys. beachgoers. Barricades between the beach It did not appear that the surveyed section of and the bins could be contributing to the the beach had been mechanically cleaned at amount of litter left on the beach. all during the three months that the surveys Rye beach is also in a windy area and the took place. There was only one bin located lighter litter items were often observed being within 100 metres of the survey area; this blown into the water and to the fence line. only appeared to be overflowing once in the survey period. The average number of litter items found in the visible survey was 30.8 items per survey. There was a large accumulation of rubbish This shows an increase of 41 per cent from along the retaining wall and in the shrubs 2002–03, when the average number of along the beach. The stormwater drain also items found was 21.8 items per survey. contributed to large amounts of litter being There was an increase of 35 per cent in washed up onto the beach after it had 2003–04 when comparing results to the rained. visible surveys in 1999–2000. Rye beach The average amount of litter found in the was ranked the sixth most littered beach in visible survey was 56.2 items per survey. the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. This was an increase of 100 per cent from The average amount of litter found in the 2002–03, when the average number of full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 31.5 items found was 28.1 per survey. There was items. When compared with the 28.2 items a decrease of 11 per cent in 2003–04 when found during the 2002–03 period, this was compared to the visible results from 1999– an increase of 12 per cent. There was an 2000. Sandringham beach is ranked the increase of 136 per cent in 2003–04 when most littered beach in the visible survey for compared to the litter count in 1999–2000. the 2003–04 period. In 2003–04, Rye beach was ranked as the The average amount of litter found in the seventh most littered beach in the full-scale full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 54.6 survey. items, compared to 40.5 in the 2002–03 See Appendix I for survey data and results. period, an increase of 35 per cent. When compared with results from 1999–2000, the

Environment Report 15 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

litter count in 2003–04 has decreased by 03 period, a decrease of 19 per cent. A 0.7 per cent in the full-scale survey. decrease of 44 per cent was recorded in Sandringham beach is ranked as the most 2003–04 when compared to the results in littered beach in the full-scale survey. 1999–2000. Seaford beach is ranked as the eighth most littered beach in the full-scale See Appendix J for survey data and results. survey. Seaford beach See Appendix K for survey data and results. Seaford beach is located in the City of Sorrento beach Frankston and the survey areas are located close to a lifesaving club and the Seaford Sorrento beach is located in Mornington pier. It seemed that the lifesaving club was Peninsula Shire and is the southernmost non-operational this year and that the beach of the three beaches in the shire. The concrete steps leading from the lifesaving survey areas are located close to a caravan club to the beach had eroded quite badly. site. There are no bins on the beach, but This gave a neglected look to the area, which there is one located in the caravan car park. could have resulted in more litter being left There are no stormwater outlets in the in the area. immediate vicinity and it was observed that, Access paths were blocked off, which made on a few occasions, cigarette butts were it more difficult for beach users to access deposited on the beach at high tide. bins located on the foreshore area. Seaford The majority of the litter was left on grass beach was affected by high tides during the areas. This litter mostly comprised of survey period and a lot of rubbish on the cigarette butts. beach was observed being washed out to The average number of litter items found in sea. the visible survey was 28.1 per survey. This The average amount of litter found in the was an increase of 37 per cent from 2002– visible survey was 36.5 items per survey. 03, when the average was 20.5 items per This shows an increase of 29 per cent from survey. An increase of 270 per cent was 2002–03, when the average number of recorded in 2003–04 when compared with items found per survey was 28.3. An the results from 1999–2000. Sorrento beach increase of four per cent was recorded in was ranked the seventh most littered beach 2003–04 when compared to 1999–2000. in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. Seaford beach was ranked the fourth most The average number of litter items found in littered beach in the visible survey for the the full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 2003–04 period. 42.6 items, compared to 30.9 in the 2002– The average amount of litter found in the 03 period. This shows an increase of 38 per full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 28.6 cent. The litter count in the full-scale survey items, compared to 35.2 items in the 2002– increased by 453 per cent in 2003–04 when

EPA Victoria 16 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04 compared to 1999–2000. Sorrento beach is See Appendix M for survey data and results. ranked as the third most littered beach in Werribee South beach the full-scale survey. Werribee South beach is in the municipality See Appendix L for survey data and results. of Wyndham City Council, located on the St Kilda beach north-west side of Port Phillip Bay. Werribee South is not a highly frequented beach. It is St Kilda Beach is located within the surrounded by farmland and the closest municipality of Port Phillip City Council on town is over 10 kilometres away. the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay. Over the past three years it has been St Kilda beach is in a high-use area and observed that the vegetation is spreading adjoins a number of restaurants. The beach closer to the water and this year there was is mechanically cleaned weekly according to only a small beach area left. the Council’s web page3 and manually cleaned daily during the summer. There was an 84 per cent decrease in the amount of litter found this year, with only There was a build-up of rubbish along the one product type (clothing and material) esplanade wall and surrounding the remaining in the visible survey area over six stormwater drains. There was also a high surveys. level of litter washed up onto the beach from high tide on most of the survey days. The average amount of litter found in the visible survey was 0.6 items per survey. This The average amount of litter found in the was a decrease of 84 per cent from 2002– visible survey was 27.2 items per survey. 03, when the average number of items found This was a decrease of 23 per cent from was 3.8 per survey. There was a decrease in 2002–03, when the average number of 2003–04 of 57 per cent in the visible litter items found was 35.2 per survey. There was count when comparing results with the a decrease of 55 per cent in 2003–04 when 1999–2000 surveys. Werribee South beach comparing to the visible litter count in 1999– was ranked as the least littered beach in the 2000. St Kilda beach was ranked the eighth visible survey for the 2003–04 period. most littered beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. The average amount of litter found in the full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 0.4 The average amount of litter found in the items, compared to 2.8 items in the 2002– full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 25.9 03 period, a decrease of 86 per cent. There items, a decrease of 21 per cent when was an 83 per cent decrease in the number compared to 32.6 items in the 2002–03 of full-scale litter items in 2003–04 when period. In 2003–04 a decrease of 23 per compared with the figures from 1999–2000. cent was recorded when compared to 1999– Werribee South beach is ranked as the least 2000. St Kilda beach is ranked the ninth littered beach in the full-scale survey. most littered beach in the full-scale survey.

Environment Report 17 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

See Appendix N for survey data and results. There was a decrease of 71 per cent in 2003–04 when compared to the results from Williamstown beach 1999–2000. Williamstown beach was Williamstown Beach is in the City of ranked as the ninth most littered beach in Hobsons Bay, located on the north-west of the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. Port Philip Bay. The average amount of litter found in the The amount of litter recorded this year on full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 33.6 Williamstown beach has decreased items, a 40 per cent decrease when dramatically compared to previous years. compared to the 56.3 items in the 2002–03 This has been mainly due to the results of period. There was a reduction of eight per the 2002–03 EPA litter report, which cent in 2003–04 from 1999–2000. highlighted Williamstown as the worst Williamstown beach is ranked as the sixth littered beach. Hobson Bay City Council most littered beach in the full-scale survey. decided, in addition to other measures, to See Appendix O for survey data and results. purchase new cleaning equipment4.

A Beach Tech 2000 beach cleaner purchased by the City of Frankston was trialled at Hobsons Bay beaches on Wednesday 15 January and did an excellent job in removing litter, as well as a substantial number of cigarette butts. The litter count at Williamstown beach decreased by 72 per cent between the survey before the use of the beach cleaner (survey 5) and the survey after using the beach cleaner (survey 6) in the 2002–03 visible surveys. This equipment was used on a permanent basis during the surveys in 2003–04.

The beach had been raked on most survey days, which could explain the reduction in litter found during this survey period.

The average amount of litter found in the visible survey was 15.3 items per survey. This was a decrease of 90 per cent from 2002–03, when the average number of items found was 152.3 items per survey.

EPA Victoria 18

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04 APPENDICES

February 2005

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX A – METHODOLOGY

The survey sites were chosen to ensure that there A diagram of the Port Phillip Bay beaches surveyed was at least one site from each of the Victorian is included below. municipalities that surround Port Phillip Bay. The Three types of litter survey methodologies were used beaches used in this report were high-usage areas at each of the 12 sites over the 10 surveys. for their municipalities and where possible were 1. Full-scale survey: a 48 m² survey area is close to a lifesaving club. The beaches include: measured and then all litter in the area is counted, Eastern beach, Mount Martha beach, Rye beach, removed and weighed. The litter is removed to Seaford beach, St Kilda beach, Williamstown Beach, enable the surveyors to calculate the regeneration Mordialloc beach, Port Melbourne, Queenscliff, rate (litter accumulation between surveys). Sandringham, Sorrento and Werribee South.

Figure A1: Beaches (underlined) surveyed in the Beach Report

EPA Victoria 2 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Full-scale survey, step by step 2. A distance from the permanent marker is measured for the first marker of the survey 1. A site survey is undertaken and a area. This is then included on the KABV site permanent mark is chosen as the survey information sheet. marker. This area is photographed so future surveys can be conducted at the same 3. A 48 m² site is measured and witches hats location. are placed at the corners. The site is photographed and included on the KABV 2. A distance from the permanent marker is site information sheet for future survey measured for the first marker of the survey information. area. This is then included on the KABV site information sheet. 4. All litter in the survey area is counted, but not removed, with the litter survey data 3. A 48 m² site is measured and witches hats being entered onto a KABV litter survey are placed at the corners. The site is form. photographed and included on the KABV site information sheet for future survey 5. Sites are revisited over the summer period information. and on each visit, litter is counted but not removed. 4. All litter in the survey area is counted and removed, with the litter survey data being entered onto a KABV litter survey form. 3. Visual ratings survey: a 50 m length of beach is 5. Sites are revisited over the summer period viewed and a visual rating is allocated. Visual and, on each visit, litter is counted and ratings are between zero and 10, with zero removed. representing a site with no litter and 10 representing a site covered with litter. Visual ratings provide a

quick snapshot of the visual presence of litter on 2. Visible litter survey: a 48 m² survey area is each surveyed beach. measured and then all litter in the area is counted Visual ratings survey, step-by-step but not removed. The litter remains on the survey area, to observe the effectiveness of beach cleaning. 1. A site survey is undertaken and a permanent mark is chosen as the survey Visible litter survey, step-by-step marker. This area is photographed so future 1. A site survey is undertaken and a surveys can be conducted at the same permanent mark is chosen as the survey location. marker. This area is photographed so future 2. A distance from the permanent marker is surveys can be conducted at the same measured for the first marker of the survey location. area. This is then included on the KABV site information sheet.

Environment Report 3 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

3. A 50 m site is measured and witches hats Regeneration rates. Regeneration rates can only be are placed in the middle and at the corners. obtained from the full-scale litter count, as the litter The site is photographed and included on is removed after each survey. The number of litter the KABV site information sheet for future items that accumulate between each survey date information. defines regeneration. The number of items that regenerate per day measures the rate. 4. All litter in the survey area is viewed but not removed, with the litter rating being entered Weight. All litter from the full-scale survey is taken onto the KABV litter site rating survey form. away and weighed.

5. Sites are rated zero through to 10, with zero representing no litter and 10 representing litter covering the entire site.

6. Sites are revisited over the summer period and, on each visit, a rating is given.

Please note: Where a single container had been dumped with a number of pieces of litter inside the container, this is included as only one item. Where the contents of that container have begun to spill out, the individual pieces are counted.

Data analysis

Data analysis is broken up into products, materials, regeneration rates and weight. The results may vary between surveys due to weather, rainfall, the number of people visiting the beach and timing of beach cleaning.

Material type, Where litter is identified according to its constituent elements. This allows the manufacturers of the raw materials to see the impact of their materials on the litter stream. Appendix B provides an example of which products are categorised into which material groups.

Product type. Where the litter is identified according to the nature of the item.

EPA Victoria 4 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX B – MATERIAL GROUPS

Here are examples of the type of products in each material group.

Metal Ceramics Confectionery foil Cement Spirit cans Bricks Wire Tiles

Miscellaneous Paper String and rope Takeaway wrappers Adhesive bandages Business cards Pens and pencils Milk cartons

Wood Plastic Ice cream sticks Cling wrap Matches Lollipop sticks Construction material Plastic bags

Rubber Glass Balloons/water bombs Soft drink bottles Rubber bands Beer bottles Tyres and tyre pieces Wine bottles

Organic material Cigarette butts Cork Cigarette butts Fruit and Vegetables Dog faeces

Table B1: Types of products in each material group

Environment Report 5 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX C – QUALITY ASSURANCE

To improve the accuracy of the surveys, quality Visible survey assurance was undertaken. All surveyors completed Quality assurance for the visible survey is a full day of training to ensure accuracy of the data undertaken by two of the survey teams they collected. During the survey period, the litter survey team leader performed a number of quality separately counting the same 48 m² site. The results assurance checks . are then directly compared with each other to ensure that results are not due to extraneous Visual rating survey variables such as surveying technique. Table C2 The results obtained by the surveyors for the visual shows the results of this quality assurance, with an rating surveys are compared with the results average discrepancy of 4.3 items per survey. obtained by the survey team leader. The correlations The main reason for this discrepancy is that there is were very close, with only one discrepancy. Table C1 the possibility of the first surveyor burying items shows the differences between the actual survey underneath the sand when walking the length of the and the quality assurance figures. survey area. This can especially affect the data count when smaller litter items are buried in the site after the first surveyor has counted.

Survey Quality assurance Beach Date Difference Site rating Site rating Eastern 5/01/2004 1 1 0 Eastern 27/01/2004 2 2 0 Eastern 9/03/2004 1 1 0 Sandringham 29/12/2003 3 2 1 Sandringham 12/01/2004 3 3 0 Sandringham 16/02/2004 3 3 0 Sorrento 20/12/2003 1 1 0 Sorrento 19/01/2004 1 1 0 Sorrento 16/02/2004 0 0 0

Table C1: Quality assurance data for visual rating survey

EPA Victoria 6

PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Survey Visible Quality assurance Beach Date Difference number Items per survey Items per survey Eastern 5/01/2004 4 29 25 4 Eastern 27/01/2004 7 95 90 5 Eastern 9/03/2004 10 17 16 1 Sandringham 29/12/2003 2 46 40 6 Sandringham 12/01/2004 5 48 45 3 Sandringham 16/02/2004 9 51 47 4 Sorrento 20/12/2003 1 17 15 2 Sorrento 19/01/2004 6 18 17 1 Sorrento 16/02/2004 9 15 15 0

Table C2: Quality assurance data for visible survey

EPA Victoria 6 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX D – EASTERN BEACH Eastern beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey Eastern beach is in the Greater City of Geelong and Avg. no of items found: 32.2 per survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts is a high-use area with a promenade and a car park When most litter found: Survey 7 (95 items) in the immediate area. Also located nearby is an Full-scale survey enclosed swimming area, manicured parklands and Avg. no of items found: 34.0 per survey boat hire facilities. Most littered item: Cigarette butts When most litter found: Survey 7 (60 items) Several festivals were held near Eastern beach over Weight of litter: 215 grams the summer period, including triathlon events. This Site rating survey Highest rating: 2 (Surveys 5, 7, 8 & 9) did not seem to have a great impact on the amount Lowest rating: 0 (Surveys 1 & 2) of litter found, as the beach was cleaned after each Eastern beach was ranked as the fifth most littered beach in both the visible and full-scale surveys. festival

There was an increase in the amount of litter found in both the visible and full-scale surveys from past Product types years. Out of the last five years, the summer of Cigarette butts were the most littered item, 2003–04 has produced the highest littered results accounting for 58 per cent of all litter found. In the for Eastern beach. visible litter count, the volume of cigarette butts Visible and full-scale survey results found in 2003–04 has increased by 16 per cent from Over the past five years an average of 24.7 items 1999–00.The second most littered item was string was found per year at Eastern beach in the visible and rope, accounting for 10 per cent of all litter survey. The average amount of litter found in 2003– items found at Eastern beach in 2003–04. 04 was 32.2 items per survey. This shows an The average number of products found per survey is increase of 46 per cent from the 2002–03 period, shown in Figure D2. when the average was 22 items per survey. Visual ratings An average of 25.6 items per year was recorded in The average visual rating for Eastern beach was 1.2 the full-scale surveys over the past five years. The per survey. The highest rating of 2 was recorded on full-scale survey results increased by 50 per cent in surveys 5, 7, 8 and 9. 2003–04, when the litter count average was 34 items per survey compared to 22.6 during 2002–03. The highest average site rating was recorded in 2000–01, when Eastern beach was given an average Figure D1 illustrates the average number of litter rating of 2.4 per survey. items found at Eastern beach over the past five years.

Environment Report 7 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Figure D3 shows the ratings given to each survey by were regenerated per day. The lowest regeneration the survey teams for the past five years. rate, of 1.8 items per day, occurred between surveys 9 and 10. Table D1 below shows the number of items Material groups regenerated per day between surveys. Cigarette butts represent 58 per cent of all litter recorded on the visible survey, with an average of Regeneration rate: Survey items per day 18.7 items per survey. In the full-scale survey, an average of 20.1 cigarette butts was found per survey. Survey 1–2 2.6 Survey 2–3 5.3 Plastic items were the second most littered group in Survey 3–4 11.3 both the visible and full-scale survey, with an Survey 4–5 7.6 average of 5.6 and 5.8 respectively. Survey 5–6 2.4 Out of the 10 material groups, cigarette butts have Survey 6–7 7.5 been the most littered group in each of the past five Survey 7–8 5.8 years. Survey 8–9 3.1 Survey 9–10 1.8 Figure D4 provides a breakdown of the average Table D1: Regeneration rates number of items found in each of the 10 material at Eastern beach groups in 2003–04.

Regeneration rates

At Eastern beach, the highest regeneration rate was recorded between surveys 3 and 4, when 11.3 items

AVERAGE NUMBER OF LITTER ITEMS PER SURVEY EASTERN BEACH 1999 TO 2004

40 35 30 25 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 20 VISIBLE SURVEY 15 10 5

AVG NO OF LITTERAVGOF NO ITEMS 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure D1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Eastern beach

EPA Victoria 8 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TOP 1 0 MOS T LITTERED ITEMS IN THE VIS IB LE S URVEY EASTERN BEACH 2003/2004

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS LITTER OF NO AVG 0

s r s ts e ic e s s l k t p t aw p e e ta c ms u o as r a ch tt e c) ti te B R l t P t e t S I e P S r a i M e r tt & r e rv - s p e e g e h M e s d o h r n h t s p ai ip t a ri t O s/ o d ll O ig t O e t n o l S u n a L l C ss a b A i /c s( T le e tt ag o d B an b ve si he d PRODUCT A

Figure D2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Eastern beach

SITE RATINGS EASTERN BEACH 1999 TO 2004

3.5 Survey 1 3 Survey 2 Survey 3 2.5 Survey 4 2 Survey 5 Survey 6 1.5 Survey 7 Survey 8 1 SITE RATING SITE Survey 9 Survey 10 0.5

0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure D3: Visual site ratings at Eastern beach

Environment Report 9 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAG E NUMB ER O F ITEMS IN EAC H MATERIAL G RO UP EASTERN BEACH 2003/2004

15 VISIBLE SURVEY 10 FULL- SCALE SURVEY

0 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVGNO OF LITTER r l ss c r s ts ic us e od ta a i e c t st o p o e l n bb i u la e a G ga u m B P n P W M r R ra e la O e tt l C re ce a is ig C M MATERIAL G RO UP

Figure D4: Material type found per survey at Eastern beach

EPA Victoria 10 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX E – MORDIALLOC BEACH Mordialloc beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey Mordialloc beach is located in the City of Kingston. Avg. no of items found: 54.0 per survey The beach is located alongside a promenade, which Most littered item: Cigarette butts

When most litter found: Survey 7 (79 items) contributes to the amount of litter found on the Full-scale survey beach closer to the walkway. Avg. no of items found: 42.0 per survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts Kingston City Council launched the ‘Summer by the When most litter found: Survey 7 (58 items) 2 Bay’ campaign on 10 January at Mordialloc beach . Weight of litter: 325 grams Kingston Council also supported the Association of Site rating survey

Highest rating: 3 (Survey 2 & 3) Bayside Municipalities’ ‘BUTTsOUT’ campaign, Lowest rating: 1 (Surveys 1, 4, 5 & 6) which was also launched in January 2004. There were no obvious decreases in the results of the litter counts after these campaigns were launched. An average of 40.6 items per year was recorded in The survey team observed that the beach was the full- scale surveys over the past five years. In the cleaned on a regular basis by mechanical cleaning. full-scale survey, an average of 42 items was found It was noticed that the machines travelled quite fast in 2003–04, a decrease of 38 per cent from 2002– and weren’t picking up all the litter on the beach. It 03, when the average number of items found was is the belief of this report that, if these machines 67.3. travel a lot slower, they may pick up more of the Mordialloc beach was ranked the fourth most litter that is currently left behind, especially smaller littered beach in the 2003–04 full-scale surveys, items like cigarette butts. compared to 2002–03 when it was the most littered Visible and full-scale survey results beach in the Port Phillip Bay area.

Over the past five years an average of 43.4 items Figure E1 illustrates the average number of litter was found per year at Mordialloc beach in the items found at Mordialloc beach over the past five visible survey. The average amount of litter found in years. 2003–04 was 54 items per survey. This shows a Product types decrease of 29 per cent from 2002–03, when the The most littered item at Mordialloc beach was average number of items found was 76 items per cigarette butts, which accounted for 62 per cent of survey. all litter counted in the visible survey. An average of Mordialloc beach was ranked the second most 33.3 cigarette butts was found per survey in 2003– littered beach for the second consecutive year in the 04. In 2003–04 the amount of cigarette butts found visible survey. increased by 151 per cent from 1999–2000.

Environment Report 11 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Other plastic items were the second most littered items account for 23.6 per cent of all litter found in item, with an average of 3.7 items found per survey, the full-scale survey and 22 per cent in the visible accounting for seven per cent of all litter found. survey. Figure E2 shows the 10 most littered products at Figure E4 provides a breakdown of the average items Mordialloc beach. found in the 10 material groups. Visual ratings Regeneration rates The highest visual site rating in the 2003–04 period The highest regeneration rate was 11 items per day, was 3, which was recorded during surveys 2 and 3 in which occurred between surveys 3 and 4. The lowest December. regeneration rate recorded was 2.3 items per day The average rating this year was 1.8. This shows a 20 between surveys 1 and 2, as shown in Table E1. per cent drop from an average of 1.5 in the 2002–03 Regeneration rate: survey period. The highest average site rating of 2.1 Survey items per day per survey was recorded in 1999–2000. Survey 1–2 2.3 Figure E3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Survey 2–3 10.3 past five years. Survey 3–4 11.0

Material groups Survey 4–5 6.9 Survey 5–6 4.6 Cigarette butts represent 62 per cent of all litter Survey 6–7 7.3 recorded on the visible survey with an average of Survey 7–8 7.2 33.3 items. In the full-scale survey, the average Survey 8–9 2.6 number of cigarette butts recorded on Mordialloc Survey 9–10 2.6 beach was 26 items per survey. Table E1: Regeneration rates Plastic items were the second most littered group in at Mordialloc beach both the visible and full-scale survey with an average of 11.9 and 9.9 items respectively. Plastic

EPA Victoria 12 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF LITTER ITEMS PER SURVEY MORDIALLOC BEACH 1999 TO 2004

50 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 40 VISIBLE SURVEY 30

10 AVG NO OFITEMS LITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure E1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Mordialloc beach

TOP 10 MOST LITTERED ITEMS IN THE VISIBLE SURVEY MORDIALLOC BEACH 2003/2004

35 S

AVG NOOF LITTER ITEM 0

s s c w s s s tt ti c a k k ts l e s u s ti tr ic ic ic e ta tl m B la s S t t st e e t te P la S S a sh o I te P p l / M B r et er m o P s - e r h - ea p - xe s .T th a t s r li s o p E o ig O p C l r b to . l C o e o pe / P l T c L p ps n A n I a u ca a r c e/ C w e tl e/ y n t tl r re o t a y B o on t B ti S ec nf o C PRODUCT

Figure E2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Mordialloc beach

Environment Report 13 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS MORDIALLOC BEACH 1999 TO 2004

4.0 Survey 1 3.5 Survey 2 Survey 3 3.0 Survey 4 2.5 Survey 5 2.0 Survey 6 Survey 7 1.5

SITE RATING Survey 8 1.0 Survey 9 0.5 Survey 10

0.0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure E3: Visual site ratings at Mordialloc beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP MORDIALLOC BEACH 2003/2004

35 30 25 20 VISIBLE SURVEY 15 FULL-SCALE SURVEY

ITEMS 10 5 0 AVG NO OF LITTERAVGOF NO

s ic ic d t st per etal a a eous Glass oo But Pl P M Rubber W lan Organ l Ceramics rette ce is Ciga M MATERIAL GROUP

Figure E4: Material type found per survey at Mordialloc beach

EPA Victoria 14 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX F – MT MARTHA BEACH

Mt Martha beach 2003–04 quick stats

Summary Visible survey

Mt Martha is located in Mornington Shire and is the Avg. no of items found: 14.4 per survey northernmost beach of the three surveyed beaches Most littered item: Cigarette butts When most litter found: Survey 5 (29 items) in the Shire. Bathing boxes line the beach area and Full-scale survey it was observed by the litter survey teams that the Avg. no of items found: 17.8 per survey majority of the owners tended to clean up the litter Most littered item: Cigarette butts When most litter found: Survey 3 (36 items) surrounding their boxes. Weight of litter: 190 grams There are only two bins in close proximity to the Site rating survey Highest rating: 1 (Surveys 1 to 6, 8 & 10) beach and these were overflowing on several Lowest rating: 0 (Surveys 7 & 9) occasions. The survey team did not see any evidence that the beach had been mechanically cleaned, however this may have occurred after the survey was 17.8 items in 2003–04, compared to 11.8 surveys took place. in 2002–03, an increase of 51 per cent.

Mount Martha beach has been one of the least Mount Martha beach has been ranked the tenth littered beaches for the past five years. most littered beach for the past four years in the full- scale survey. Visible and full-scale survey results Figure F1 below illustrates the average number of The amount of litter recorded at Mount Martha litter items found at Mount Martha beach over the beach this year has increased in comparison with past five years. the past two years. Product types Over the past five years an average of 14.3 items was found per year at Mount Martha beach in the visible Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an survey. The average amount of litter found in 2003– average of five items found per survey. Cigarette 04 was 14.4 items. This was an increase of 38 per butts accounted for 35 per cent of all litter found at cent from 2002–03, when the average number of Mount Martha beach in 2003–04, a decrease of 32 items found was 10.4 items per survey. per cent when compared to 2002–03, when an average of 3.8 items were found in the visible Mount Martha beach has been ranked the tenth survey. When compared to results from 1999–2000, most littered beach for the past three years in the a 62 per cent increase was found. visible survey. Other plastic items were the second most littered An average of 13.9 items per year was recorded in product, accounting for 15 per cent of all items the full scale surveys over the past five years. The surveyed, and recording an average of 2.2 items per average amount of litter found in the full-scale

Environment Report 15 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

survey. This showed an increase of 122 per cent Figure F4 provides a breakdown of the average items when compared to 2002–03. found in the 10 material groups.

Figure F2 shows the 10 most littered products at Regeneration rates Mount Martha beach in the visible survey. The highest regeneration rate was nine items per Visual ratings day between surveys 2 and 3. The lowest regeneration rate was 0.2 items per day between Less litter has been found during visual site ratings surveys 8 and 9, as shown in Table F1. in 2003–04 than in previous years. The average rating this year was 0.8, down from an average of Regeneration rate: Survey 1.05 in the 2002–03 survey period. The highest site items per day rating was recorded in 1999–2000, when the Survey 1–2 1.2 average site rating was 2.1 per survey. Survey 2–3 9.0 Survey 3–4 6.7 Figure F3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Survey 4–5 4.0 past five years. Survey 5–6 2.6 Material groups Survey 6–7 0.9 Survey 7–8 3.0 Plastic items represent 42 per cent of all litter Survey 8–9 0.2 recorded during the visible survey, with an average Survey 9–10 0.6 of six items per survey. In the full-scale survey, the Table F1: Regeneration rates average number of plastic items found was 7.8 at Mt Martha beach items per survey, accounting for 42 per cent of all litter counted.

Cigarette butts were the second most littered group in the visible and full-scale surveys, with an average of five and 6.4 items respectively.

EPA Victoria 16 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF LITTER ITEMS PER SURVEY MT MARTHA BEACH 1999 TO 2004

20 18 16 14 12 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 10 VI SI BLE SURVE Y 8 6 4

AVG NO OFLITTER ITEMS 2 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIO D

Figure F1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Mt Martha beach

TOP 1 0 MOS T LITTERED ITEMS IN THE VIS IB LE S URVEY MT MARTHA BEACH 2003/2004 S 6 5

3 2 1 0 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEM LITTER OF NO AVG

s ic s r s s s ss l s tt t ic w pe ck ck e a a m u as t ra a ti i ec l t e B l as t P S t a G e It P l S r S F r M r te r P e m p e - e et e - h a o g th h r th s t e ip o ps t a p O r ll D O o O ig O o C o t ll C T e L n n c a A a I /c C le e/ tt tl o ot B B PRODUCT

Figure F2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Mt Martha beach

Environment Report 17 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS MT MARTHA BEACH 1999 TO 2004

3.5 Surv ey 1 Surv ey 2 3 Surv ey 3 2.5 Surv ey 4

2 Surv ey 5 Surv ey 6 1.5 Surv ey 7 SITE RATING SITE 1 Surv ey 8 Surv ey 9 0.5 Surv ey 1 0 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004

SURVEY PERIOD

Figure F3: Visual site ratings at Mt Martha beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP MT MARTHA BEACH 2003/2004

9 8 7 6 5 VISIBLE SURVEY 4 FULL-SCAL SURVEY 3 2 1 0 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OF LITTER s d cs stic t per i a oo Glass eous m Pl But Pa Metal W Rubber ra e Organic lan e tt l C re sce ga i Ci M MATERIAL G RO UP

Figure F4: Material type found per survey at Mt Martha beach

EPA Victoria 18 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX G – PORT MELBOURNE BEACH Port Melbourne beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary An average of 29.4 items per year was recorded in VISIBLE SURVEY the full-scale surveys over the past five years. The Port Melbourne beach is the northernmost beach in Avg. no of items found: 36.6 per survey average amount of litter found in 2003–04 was 45.7 the reporting program on the east side of Port Phillip Most littered item: Cigarette butts items,When an most 86 litterper cent found: increase Survey from 6 the(85 items)24.6 items Bay and is located near a lifesaving club. The foundFULL-SCALE in 2002–03. SURVEY lifesaving club also has a small kiosk located on the Avg. no of items found: 45.7 per survey side of the building. PortMost Melbourne littered item: beach is ranked Cigarette the secondbutts most litteredWhen beachmost litter in the found: full-scale Survey survey. 3 (74 items) It was observed on a few occasions that people were Weight of litter: 295 grams dropping their litter around the steps of the FigureSITE G1RATING illustrates SURVEY the average number of litter Highest rating: 3 (Surveys 3, 6 & 10) lifesaving club and often the rubbish was wind- items found at Port Melbourne beach over the past Lowest rating: 1 (Surveys 1, 5, 7 & 8) blown onto the beach. There is only one bin located five years. on the beach, although other bins are located on the Product types promenade. Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an During summer, the beaches are cleaned average of 17.9 items found per survey. This mechanically up to three times per week and are accounted for 39 per cent of all litter found at Port manually cleaned daily, according to the City of Port Melbourne beach, an increase of 39 per cent from Phillip website3. 2002–03, when the average number of cigarette Port Melbourne beach is in the top three of the most butts found was 12.9 items in the visible survey. littered beaches for both the visible and full-scale There was an increase of 124 per cent in 2003–04 surveys. compared to the number of cigarette butts found in 1999–2000. Visible and full-scale survey results Plastic bottle/can tops were the second most The amount of litter recorded this year at Port littered product, accounting for 12 per cent of all Melbourne beach has increased, compared to the items surveyed, with an average of 5.7 items found two previous years. per survey. An increase of 185 per cent was recorded Over the past five years an average of 26.5 items in the number of plastic bottle/can tops found in was found per year at Port Melbourne beach in the 2003–04 compared to 2002–03. visible survey. The average amount of litter found in Figure G2 shows the 10 most littered products in the 2003–04 was 36.6 items. This shows an increase of visible survey. 45 per cent from 2002–03, when the average items found were 25.2 items per survey. Port Melbourne Visual ratings beach was ranked the third most littered beach in Visual ratings have only increased slightly from the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. previous years. The highest rating in the 2003–04

Environment Report 19 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

survey period was 3, which was recorded on surveys Figure G4 provides a breakdown of the average 3, 6 and 10. The average rating in 2003–04 was 1.9, items found in the 10 material groups. up from an average of 1.75 in the 2002–03 survey Regeneration rates period. The highest regeneration rate was 19 items per day The highest average rating was recorded in 2000–01 between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest was 0.9 when the average rating was 3.8 per survey. items per day between surveys 8 and 9 as shown in Figure G3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Table G1. past five years. Regeneration rate: items per Survey Material groups day

Survey 1–2 7.0 Cigarette butts represent 43 per cent of all litter Survey 2–3 18.5 recorded on the visible survey, with an average of Survey 3–4 19.0 15.7 items per survey. An average of 17.9 cigarette Survey 4–5 8.9 butts per survey was recorded during the full-scale Survey 5–6 7.6 surveys. Survey 6–7 6.0 Plastic items were the second most littered group in Survey 7–8 1.3 both the visible and full-scale surveys, with an Survey 8–9 0.9 average of 12.2 and 16.9 items respectively. Survey 9–10 2.8 Table 12: Regeneration rates Cigarette butts and plastic items have been the two at Port Melbourne beach material groups most found over the past five years.

EPA Victoria 20 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF LI TTER I TEMS PER SURVEY PORT MELBOURNE BEACH 1999 TO 2004

50 45 40 35 30 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 25 VISIBLE SURVEY 20 15 10 5 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure G1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Port Melbourne beach

TOP 10 MOST LITTERED ITEMS IN THE VISIBLE SURVEY PORT MELBOURNE BEACH 2003/2004 S 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

s s tts ic w tic r c es ck es ic s u st tra las pe sti ttl ti p st tem e B la S P Pa la Bo S l ty la r I AVG NO OF LITTER ITEM LITTER OF NO AVG ett - P er rs- - P T am al - P he ar ps th pe s E. re m- rs Ot ig o O ap er P. C iu pe ll C n T r pp Ice in ap A a W ra um r e/C ary y w Al W ttl on ar s am Bo ti on an re fec cti r C e C on nfe ee Ic C Co B PRODUCT

Figure G2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Port Melbourne beach

Environment Report 21 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS PORT MELBOURNE BEACH 1999 TO 2004

Survey 1 8 Survey 2 7 Survey 3 6 Survey 4 5 Survey 5 4 Survey 6 3 Survey 7 SITE RATING 2 Survey 8 1 Survey 9

0 Survey 10 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 S URVEY PERIOD

Figure G3: Visual site ratings at Port Melbourne beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF I TEMS I N EACH MATERI AL GROUP PORT MELBOURNE BEACH 2003/2004

20 18 16 14 VISIBLE SURVEY 12 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 10 8 6 4 2 0 AVG NO OF ITEMS LITTER r c ic ss etal n us od be cs eo o b mi Plasti Paper M Gla W u ra Orga an R e cell C is Cigarette Butts M MATERI AL GROUP

Figure G4: Material type found per survey at Port Melbourne beach

EPA Victoria 22 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX H – QUEENSCLIFF BEACH

Summary Queenscliff beach 2003–04 quick stats Queenscliff beach is located in the Borough of Queenscliff and is the southernmost surveyed beach Visible survey Avg. no of items found: 2.7 per survey on the western side of Port Philip Bay. Most littered item: Cigarette butts

The litter count for Queenscliff was very low, due to When most litter found: Survey 9 (6 items) Full-scale survey the lack of people using the beach. It is mainly used Avg. no of items found: 1.8 per survey by dog walkers, as the amount of seaweed prohibits Most littered item: Cigarette butts people from swimming at the beach. When most litter found: Survey 6 (4 items) Weight of litter: 60 grams The nearest rubbish bins were located Site rating survey approximately 50 metres away, near a picnic area, Highest rating: 7 (Survey 1 – high-level seaweed) which is right next to the service road. Lowest rating: 0 (Surveys 3 to 10)

There was no bin signage along the beach or the barbecue areas. Queenscliff beach was ranked the second least littered beach in the full-scale survey. Visible and full-scale survey results Figure H1 illustrates the average number of litter The amount of litter recorded this year at Queenscliff items found at Queenscliff beach over the past five beach has decreased compared to the two previous years. years. Product types Over the past five years an average of 6.4 items was found per year at Queenscliff beach in the visible Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an survey. The average amount of litter found in 2003– average of 1.9 items found per survey. This 04 was 2.7 items per survey. This is a decrease of 13 accounted for 70 per cent of all litter found at per cent from 2002–03, when the average number of Queenscliff beach, an increase of 171 per cent items found was 3.1 items per survey. Queenscliff compared to 2002–03, when the average amount of beach was ranked the second least littered beach in cigarette butts found was 0.7 items in the visible the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. survey. A decrease of 43 per cent was recorded in 2003–04 when compared to the number of cigarette An average of 6.7 items per year was recorded in the butts found in 1999–2000. full-scale surveys over the past five years. The average amount of litter found in the full-scale Plastic confectionery wrappers were the second survey during 2003–04 was 1.8 items, compared to most littered product, with an average litter count of 2.9 items in the 2002–03 period. This shows a 0.3 items per survey, accounting for 11 per cent of all decrease of 38 per cent. items surveyed.

Environment Report 23 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Figure H2 shows the 10 most littered products in the Plastic items were the second most littered group in visible survey. both the visible and full-scale surveys, with an average of 0.6 and 0.2 respectively. Visual ratings Figure H4 below provides a breakdown of the average The average visual ratings have decreased from items found in the 10 material groups. previous years. The highest rating in the 2003–04 survey period was 7, which was recorded during the Regeneration rates first survey. This was due to the large amount of The highest regeneration rate was 0.6 items per day seaweed located on the beach. The seaweed was between surveys 5 and 6, while the lowest was zero excluded in subsequent site ratings. The average items per day between surveys 6 and 7, as shown in rating this year was 0.8, a decrease of 76 per cent Table H1. from the 2002–03 survey period. Regeneration rate: Survey The highest site rating was recorded in 2001–02, items per day when the average rating was 5.7 per survey. This Survey 1–2 0.3 rating included seaweed as litter. Survey 2–3 0.5 Figure H3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Survey 3–4 0.3 past five years. Survey 4–5 0.1 Survey 5–6 0.6 Material groups Survey 6–7 0.0 Cigarette butts represent 70 per cent of all litter Survey 7–8 0.3 recorded on the visible survey, with an average of Survey 8–9 0.2 1.9 items per survey. An average of 0.9 cigarette Survey 9–10 0.1 butts were found during the full-scale surveys, Table H1: Regeneration rates at Queenscliff accounting for 50 per cent of all litter found. beach

EPA Victoria 24 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF LITTER ITEMS PER SURVEY QUEENSCLIFF BEACH 1999 TO 2004

18 16 14 12 10 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 8 VISIBLE SURVEY 6 4 2 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure H1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Queenscliff beach

TOP 10 MOST LITTERED ITEMS IN THE VISIBLE SURVEY QUEENSCLIFF BEACH 2003/2004

2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS s tts c od tic raw Bu sti o las St te la r W r P ret - P the he ga rs O Ot Ci pe rap w ary on cti nfe Co PRODUCT

Figure H2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Queenscliff beach

Environment Report 25 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS QUEENSCLIFF BEACH 1999 TO 2004

8 Survey 1

7 Survey 2 Survey 3 6 Survey 4 5 Survey 5 4 Survey 6 3 Survey 7 SITE RATING 2 Survey 8

1 Survey 9 Survey 10 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure H3: Visual site ratings at Queenscliff beach

A VERA G E NUMB ER O F ITEMS IN EAC H MA TER IAL G RO UP QUEENSCLIFF BEACH 2003/2004

2 1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2 VISIBLE SURVEY 1 FULL-S CALE S URVEY 0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS 0

c d ic tts sti lass etal per u a G gan a B Pl Woo M r P e O Ceramics scellaneous Cigarett Mi MATERIAL GRO UP

Figure H4: Material type found per survey at Queenscliff beach

EPA Victoria 26 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX I – RYE BEACH

Summary Rye beach 2003–04 quick stats Rye beach is one of three beaches surveyed in Visible survey Mornington Shire. Rye beach is one of the most Avg. no of items found: 30.8 per survey popular holiday destinations along the peninsula Most littered item: Cigarette butts When most litter found: Survey 8 (54 items) during the summer period. Full-scale survey

Rye beach is a high-use area, with a caravan park, Avg. no of items found: 31.5 per survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts picnic areas and car park located on the nearby When most litter found: Survey 5 (45 items) foreshore. Litter is often left by beachgoers. Weight of litter: 240 grams Barricades between the beach and the bins could be Site rating survey Highest rating: 3 (Survey 2) contributing to the amount of litter left on the beach. Lowest rating: 0 (Survey 4)

Rye beach is also in a windy area and the lighter litter items were often observed being blown into Figure I1 illustrates the average number of items the water and to the fence line. found at Rye beach for the past five years.

Visible and full-scale survey results Product types

Over the past five years an average of 24.3 items Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an were found per year at Rye beach in the visible average of 14.5 items found per survey, accounting survey. The average number of litter items found in for 47 per cent of all litter found at Rye beach. This 2003–04 was 30.8 items per survey. This shows an shows an increase of 61 per cent when compared to increase of 41 per cent from 2002–03, when the 2002–03, when the average number of cigarette average number of items found was 21.8 items per butts found was nine items in the visible survey. survey. Other organic items were the second most littered Rye beach was ranked the sixth most littered beach product, accounting for 12 per cent of all items in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. surveyed.

An average of 28.8 items per year was recorded in Figure I2 shows the 10 most littered products in the the full-scale surveys over the past five years. The visible survey. average amount of litter found in the full-scale Visual ratings survey during 2003–04 was 31.5 items. When The highest rating in the 2003–04 survey period was compared with the 28.2 items found during the 3, which was recorded on the second survey, while 2002–03 period, this was an increase of 12 per cent. the lowest rating was 0, recorded on the fourth In 2003–04, Rye beach was ranked as the seventh survey. The average rating this year was 1.1, a most littered beach in the full-scale survey.

Environment Report 27 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

decrease of 27 per cent from the 2002–03-survey Regeneration rates period. The highest regeneration rate was 10 items per day The highest average visual rating of 3.2 per survey between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest was recorded in 1999–2000. regeneration rate was 1.7 items per day between surveys 5 and 6, as shown below in Table I1. Figure I3 shows the site ratings per survey for the past five years. Regeneration rate: items per Survey day Material groups Survey 1–2 2.2 Cigarette butts represent 47 per cent of all litter Survey 2–3 8.8 recorded on the visible surveys, with an average of Survey 3–4 10.0 14.5 items. An average of 14.8 cigarette butts was Survey 4–5 6.4 found per survey during the full-scale surveys. Survey 5–6 1.7

Paper items were the second most littered group in Survey 6–7 3.1 Survey 7–8 6.8 the visible surveys, with an average of 4.7 items per Survey 8–9 2.3 survey. In the full-scale surveys, plastic items were Survey 9–10 1.9 the second most littered material group, with an Table I1: Regeneration rates average of eight items found per survey. at Rye beach Figure I4 provides a breakdown of the average items found in the 10 material groups.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY RYE BEACH 1999 TO 2004

45 40 35 30 25 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 20 VISIBLE SURVEY 15 10 5

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure I1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Rye beach

EPA Victoria 28 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TO P 10 MO S T LITTER ITEMS IN THE VIS IBLE S URVEY RYE BEACH 2003/2004

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

c s s s c s tts ni tes er aw ck le sti ck er ms AVG LITTER NO OF ITEMS u a et p tr ti b a ti p te e B rg vi Pa S S eta Pl S Pa r I ett r O ser rs- am eg er op rs- he ar he s/ pe re V th lip pe Ot ig Ot ue ap C & O ol ap ll C iss r Ice uit L r A T y W Fr y W ar wa ion ea ct ak nfe T Co PRODUCT

Figure I2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Rye beach

SITE RATINGS RYE BEACH 1999 TO 2004

10 9 Survey 1 8 Survey 2 7 Survey 3 6 Survey 4 5 Survey 5 4 Survey 6 Survey 7 SITE RATING SITE 3 2 Survey 8 1 Survey 9 0 Survey 10 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure I3: Visual site ratings at Rye beach

Environment Report 29 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP RYE BEACH 2003/2004

S 16 14 12 10 VISIBLE SURVEY 8 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 6 4 2

AVG NO OFLITTER ITEM 0

c ts tic ics ut ber B Paper rgani Plas Wood Metal Glass ub te O aneous R et Ceram scell igar C Mi MATERIAL GROUP

Figure I4: Material type found per survey at Rye beach

EPA Victoria 30 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX J – SANDRINGHAM BEACH Sandringham beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary survey during 2003–04 was 54.6 items, compared to Visible survey 4 The Sandringham beach site is located in the Avg. no of items found: 56.2 per survey municipality of Bayside City Council. Near the survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts When most litter found: Survey 8 (101 items) area is a walkway/promenade and a surf lifesaving Full-scale survey club. Avg. no of items found: 54.6 per survey

Most littered item: Cigarette butts Sandringham beach was the most littered beach in When most litter found: Survey 3 (89 items) 2003–04 in both the visible and full-scale surveys. Weight of litter: 490 grams Site rating survey It did not appear that the surveyed section of the Highest rating: 4 (Survey 8) beach had been mechanically cleaned at all during Lowest rating: 1 (Survey 1) the three months that the surveys took place. There was only one bin located within 100 metres of the 0.5 items in the 2002–03 period, an increase of 35 survey area; this only appeared to be overflowing per cent. once in the survey period. Sandringham beach is ranked as the most littered There was a large accumulation of rubbish along the beach in the full-scale survey. retaining wall and in the shrubs along the beach. The stormwater drain also contributed to large Figure J1 illustrates the average number of litter amounts of litter being washed up onto the beach items found at Sandringham beach over the past after it had rained. five years.

Visible and full-scale survey results Product types

Over the past five years an average of 49.9 items Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an was found per year at Sandringham beach in the average of 30.4 items found per survey, accounting visible survey. The average amount of litter found in for 54 per cent of all litter found at Sandringham 2003–04 was 56.2 items per survey. This was an beach. This was an increase of 114 per cent increase of 100 per cent from 2002–03, when the compared to 2002–03, when the average number of average items found were 28.1 items per survey. cigarette butts found was 14.2 in the visible survey.

Sandringham beach is ranked the most littered Other plastic items were the second most littered beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. product, accounting for seven per cent of all items surveyed. There was an increase of 27 per cent in An average of 47.9 items per year was recorded in 2003–04 when comparing the count of other plastic the full-scale surveys over the past five years. The items to 2002–03. average amount of litter found in the full-scale

Environment Report 31 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Figure J2 below shows the top 10 most littered Figure J4 shows the average number of material products in the visible survey. items found at Sandringham beach.

Visual ratings Regeneration rates

The highest rating in this year’s survey period was 4, The highest regeneration rate was 27.7 items per which was recorded during survey 8. The average day between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest rating this year was 2.6, an increase of 86 per cent regeneration rate was 2.5 items per day between from the 2002–03-survey period. surveys 9 and 10, as shown in Table J1.

The highest average visual rating of 4.4 per survey Regeneration rate: items per Survey was recorded in 1999–2000. day

Figure J3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Survey 1–2 2.7 past five years. Survey 2–3 22.3 Survey 3–4 27.7 Material groups Survey 4–5 11.7 Cigarette butts were the highest littered material Survey 5–6 6.3 group, accounting for 54 per cent of all litter counted Survey 6–7 6.8 in the visible surveys and 55 per cent of all litter in Survey 7–8 9.0 Survey 8–9 3.6 the full-scale surveys. Survey 9–10 2.5 Plastic items were the second most littered material Table J1: Regeneration rates at Sandringham group, with an average of 14.8 items found in the beach visible surveys and 11.6 in the full-scale surveys.

EPA Victoria 32 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY SANDRINGHAM BEACH 1999 TO 2004

70 60 50

40 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 30 VISIBLE SURVEY 20 10

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure J1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Sandringham beach

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTER ED ITEMS IN TH E V IS IB LE S U RVEY SANDRINGHAM BEACH 2003/2004

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

s c ws r s tt sti ic ra al pe les r ck c ms Bu la st St et Pa tt pe ti sti te te P Pla M r Bo Pa p S la r I et er - s - the .T s- o - P he ar th ps p O .E er llip rs Ot ig O o to P pp o pe ll C n T an ra L p A a e/c W ra e/C ttl ry y w ttl Bo na ar Bo tio ion fec ct on nfe C Co PRODUCT

Figure J2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Sandringham beach

Environment Report 33 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS SANDRINGHAM BEACH 1999 TO 2004

7 Survey 1 6 Survey 2 Survey 3 5 Survey 4 4 Survey 5 Survey 6 3 Survey 7

SITE RATING SITE 2 Survey 8 Survey 9 1 Survey 10 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 S URVEY PERIOD

Figure J3: Visual site ratings at Sandringham beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GRO UP SANDRINGHAM BEACH 2003/2004

35 30 25 20 VISIBLE SURVEY 15 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 10 5 0 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS c ts c ass us i er ut asti Gl ood Pl Paper Metal rgan W Rubb e B laneo O tt Ceramics e cel igar C Mis MATERIAL G RO UP

Figure J4: Material type found per survey at Sandringham beach

EPA Victoria 34 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX K – SEAFORD BEACH Seaford beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey Seaford beach is located in Frankston and the Avg. no of items found: 36.5 per survey survey areas are located close to a lifesaving club Most littered item: Cigarette butts

When most litter found: Survey 3 (74 items) and the Seaford pier. It seemed that the lifesaving Full-scale survey club was non-operational this year and that the Avg. no of items found: 28.6 per survey concrete steps leading from the lifesaving club to Most littered item: Cigarette butts the beach had eroded quite badly. This gave a When most litter found: Survey 7 (64 items) Weight of litter: 590 grams neglected look to the area, which could have Site rating survey resulted in more litter being left in the area. Highest rating: 3 (Surveys 2 & 5) Lowest rating: 0 (Surveys 6, 8, 9 & 10) Access paths were blocked off, which made it more difficult for beach users to access bins located on the foreshore area. Seaford beach was affected by Figure K1 illustrates the average number of litter high tides during the survey period and a lot of items found at Seaford beach over the past five rubbish on the beach was observed being washed years. out to sea. Product types Visible and full-scale survey results Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an Over the past five years an average of 33.3 items average of 20.5 items found per survey, accounting was found per year at Seaford beach in the visible for 56 per cent of all litter found at Seaford beach. survey. The average amount of litter found in 2003– This was a decrease of 20 per cent compared to 04 was 36.5 items per survey. This shows an 2002–03, when the average number of cigarette increase of 29 per cent from 2002–03, when the butts found was 17.1 items in the visible survey. average items found were 28.3 items per survey. Other paper items were the second most littered Seaford beach was ranked the fourth most littered product, accounting for eight per cent of all items beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. surveyed. An average of 36.5 items per year was recorded in Figure K2 shows the top 10 most littered products in the full-scale surveys over the past five years. The the visible survey. average amount of litter found in the full-scale Visual ratings survey during 2003–04 was 28.6 items, compared to 35.2 items in the 2002–03 period, a decrease of The highest rating in this year’s survey period was 3, 19 per cent. which was recorded on the second as well as the fifth survey. The average rating this year was 1.1, a Seaford beach is ranked as the eighth most littered beach in the full-scale survey.

Environment Report 35 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

decrease of 35 per cent from the 2002–03 survey Regeneration rates period. The highest regeneration rate was 10.8 items per The highest visual rating of 3.6 per survey was day between surveys 2 and 3, while the lowest recorded in 1999–2000. regeneration rate was zero items per day between surveys 8 and 9, as shown in Table K1. Figure K3 shows the site ratings per survey for the past five years. Regeneration rate: items per Survey day Material groups Survey 1–2 2.6 Cigarette butts were the highest littered material Survey 2–3 10.8 group, accounting for 56 per cent of all litter counted Survey 3–4 10.0 in the visible surveys and 53 per cent of all litter in Survey 4–5 5.3 the full-scale surveys. Survey 5–6 2.7 Plastic items were the second most littered material Survey 6–7 8.0 group, with an average of 6.4 items found in the Survey 7–8 4.5 visible surveys and 6.8 in the full-scale surveys. Survey 8–9 0.0 Survey 9–10 0.6 Figure K4 shows the average number of items per Table K1: Regeneration rates at Seaford beach material group for Seaford beach.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY SEAFORD BEACH 1999 TO 2004

40 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 30 VISIBLE SURVEY 20

10 AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure K1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Seaford beach

EPA Victoria 36 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTERED ITEMS IN TH E VIS IB LE S URVEY SEAFORD BEACH 2003/2004

tts er tic c c al r od r s u ap las sti ti eri pe o pe tic tem e B r P P la las at Pa W Pa as r I ett he er - P P M s- er - Pl he ar Ot th s s - & er th rs - t ig O op er g pp O pe ers ll O C T pp hin ra rap in A an ra ot W w nta /C w Cl ay m co ttle ary w ea o n ea cr s & B tio ak ce up fec T I C on ay C aw ke Ta PRODUCT

Figure K2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Seaford beach

SITE RATINGS SEAFORD BEACH 1999 TO 2004

7 Survey 1

6 Survey 2

5 Survey 3 Survey 4 4 Survey 5 3 Survey 6 SITE RATING SITE 2 Survey 7 1 Survey 8 0 Survey 9 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 Survey 10 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure K3: Visual site ratings at Seaford beach

Environment Report 37 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP SEAFORD BEACH 2003/2004

25 20 15 VISIBLE SURVEY 10 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 5 0

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER r s tal stic ou ood lass e G ubber Pla Pape W M R rganic e Butts lane O t l Ceramics ce is igaret C M MATERIAL G RO UP

Figure K4: Material type found per survey at Seaford beach

EPA Victoria 38 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX L – SORRENTO BEACH Sorrento beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey Sorrento beach is located in Mornington Peninsula Avg. no of items found: 28.1 per survey Shire and is the southernmost beach of the three Most littered item: Cigarette butts

When most litter found: Survey 10 (52 items) beaches in the Shire. The survey areas are located Full-scale survey close to a caravan site. There are no bins on the Avg. no of items found: 42.6 per survey beach but there is one located in the caravan car Most littered item: Cigarette butts park. When most litter found: Survey 10 (141 items) Weight of litter: 320 grams There are no stormwater outlets in the immediate Site rating survey

Highest rating: 3 (Surveys 5 & 7) vicinity and it was observed that, on a few Lowest rating: 0 (Survey 9) occasions, cigarette butts were deposited on the beach at high tide.

The majority of the litter was left on grass areas. This Figure L1 illustrates the average number of items litter mostly comprised cigarette butts. found at Sorrento beach for the past five years.

Visible and full-scale survey results Product types

Over the past five years an average of 20.5 items Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an was found per year at Sorrento beach in the visible average of 15.4 items found per survey, accounting survey. The average number of litter items found in for 55 per cent of all litter found at Sorrento beach. 2003–04 was 28.1 items per survey. This was an This was an increase of three per cent compared to increase of 37 per cent from 2002–03, when the 2002–03, where the average amount of cigarette average items found were 20.5 items per survey. butts found was 14.9 items in the visible survey.

Sorrento beach was ranked the seventh most Other plastic items were the second most littered littered beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 product, accounting for five per cent of all items period. surveyed.

An average of 26.7 items per year was recorded in Figure L2 shows the 10 most littered products in the the full scale surveys over the past five years. The visible survey. average number of litter items found in the full-scale Visual ratings survey during 2003–04 was 42.6 items, compared to The average site rating for Sorrento beach was 1.6 30.9 items in the 2002–03 period. This shows an per survey. The highest rating of 3 was recorded on increase of 38 per cent. two occasions, surveys 5 and 7. Sorrento beach is ranked as the third most littered The highest visual rating of 1.8 per survey was beach in the full-scale survey. recorded in 2001–02.

Environment Report 39 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Figure L3 illustrates the site ratings for the past five regeneration rate was 1.1 items per day between years. surveys 8 and 9, as shown in Table L1.

Material groups Regeneration rate: items per Survey day Cigarette butts were the highest littered material group, accounting for 55 per cent of all litter counted Survey 1–2 2.1 in the visible surveys and 61 per cent of all litter in Survey 2–3 5.3 the full-scale surveys. Survey 3–4 11.3 Survey 4–5 7.4 Plastic items were the second most littered material Survey 5–6 4.0 group, with an average of 4.5 items found in the Survey 6–7 8.6 visible surveys and 6.3 in the full-scale surveys. Survey 7–8 5.5

Figure L4 below shows the average number of items Survey 8–9 1.1 per material group for Sorrento beach. Survey 9–10 6.4 Table L1: Regeneration rates at Sorrento beach Regeneration rates

The highest regeneration rate was 11.3 items per day between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY SORRENTO BEACH 1999 TO 2004 45 40 35 30 25 FULL-SCALE SURVEY

20 VISIBLE SURVEY 15 10

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 5 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure L1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Sorrento beach

EPA Victoria 40 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTERED ITEMS IN TH E VIS IB LE S URVEY SORRENTO BEACH 2003/2004

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

s tts tic l aw tes c) er bs er s u as er eta tr et et ap m p tem e B Pl ap M S rvi ds r P bo Pa r i ett er s-P - se ai he er l - he ar th er ps es/ nd Ot at oi ot ig O pp to su (ba /W e F ll C ra an is es ns tt A W /c T ag o are ry ttle nd llo ig na o ba Ba C tio B e ec siv nf he Co Ad PRODUCT

Figure L2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Sorrento beach

SITE RATINGS SORRENTO BEACH 1999 TO 2004

6 Sur v ey 1

5 Sur v ey 2 Sur v ey 3

4 Sur v ey 4

Sur v ey 5

3 Sur v ey 6

Sur v ey 7 SITE RATING 2 Sur v ey 8

Sur v ey 9

1 Sur v ey 1 0

0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure L3: Visual site ratings at Sorrento beach

Environment Report 41 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

A VERA G E NUMB ER O F ITEMS IN EAC H MA TER IAL G RO UP SORRENTO BEACH 2003/2004

VISIBLE SURVEY 15 F U LL- S C A LE S U R V E Y 10

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS 0

l s er s d s tts p u o la ics u eo o G B Plastic Pa Meta n W Rubber ram Organic tte ella Ce are ig C Misc MATERIAL GRO UP

Figure L4: Material type found per survey at Sorrento beach

EPA Victoria 42 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX M – ST KILDA BEACH St Kilda beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey St Kilda Beach is located within the municipality of Avg. no of items found: 27.2 per survey Port Phillip City Council on the eastern side of Port Most littered item: Cigarette butts

When most litter found: Survey 5 (54 items) Phillip Bay. Full-scale survey St Kilda beach is in a high-use area and adjoins a Avg. no of items found: 25.9 per survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts number of restaurants. The beach is mechanically When most litter found: Survey 6 (63 items) 3 cleaned weekly according to the council’s web page Weight of litter: 280 grams and manually cleaned daily during the summer. Site rating survey

Highest rating: 4 (Surveys 2 & 6) There was a build-up of rubbish along the esplanade Lowest rating: 1 (Surveys 1, 7 & 10) wall and surrounding the stormwater drains. There The average number of items found per survey at St was also a high level of litter washed up onto the Kilda beach is shown in Figure M1. beach from high tide on most of the survey days. Product types Visible and full-scale survey results Cigarette butts were the most littered item, with an Over the past five years an average of 44.6 items average of 12.2 items found per survey, accounting was found per year at St Kilda beach in the visible for 45 per cent of all litter found at St Kilda beach. survey. The average amount of litter found in 2003– This was a decrease of 73 per cent compared to 04 was 27.2 items per survey. This was a decrease 2002–03, where the average amount of cigarette of 23 per cent from 2002–03, when the average butts found was 21.1 items in the visible survey. items found were 35.2 items per survey. Other plastic items were the second most littered St Kilda beach was ranked the eighth most littered product, accounting for 10 per cent of all items beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 period. surveyed. An average of 43.9 items per year was recorded in Figure M2 below shows the 10 most littered products the full scale surveys over the past five years. The in the visible survey. average amount of litter found in the full-scale survey during 2003–04 was 25.9 items, a decrease Visual ratings of 21 per cent when compared to 32.6 items in the The average site rating for St Kilda beach was 2.2 2002–03 period. per survey. The highest rating was recorded on St Kilda beach is ranked the ninth most littered surveys 2 and 6, where the beach was given a rating beach in the full-scale survey. of 4.

The highest visual rating was recorded in 1999– 2000, when the average rating was 5.1 per survey.

Environment Report 43 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Figure M3 illustrates the site ratings for the past five occurred between surveys 8 and 9. The number of years. items regenerated per day for St Kilda is shown in Table M1. Material groups

Cigarette butts were the most littered material Regeneration rate: Survey group, accounting for 45 per cent of all litter counted items per day in the visible survey. Survey 1–2 2.1

Plastic items were the second most littered material Survey 2–3 5.3 group, with an average of seven items found in the Survey 3–4 11.3 Survey 4–5 7.4 visible surveys and the full-scale surveys. Survey 5–6 4.0 The average number of items per material group for Survey 6–7 8.6 St Kilda beach is shown in Figure M4. Survey 7–8 5.5

Regeneration rates Survey 8–9 1.1 Survey 9–10 6.4 The highest regeneration rate was 11.3 items per Table M1: Regeneration rates at St Kilda beach day, observed between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest regeneration rate of 1.1 items per day

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY ST KILDA BEACH 1999 TO 2004

100

60 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 40 VISIBLE SURVEY

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure M1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at St Kilda beach

EPA Victoria 44 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTERED ITEMS IN TH E VIS IB LE S URVEY STKILDA BEACH 2003/2004

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS s c r ws s tt sti pe ra al ic c ck r ing ms Bu la Pa St et st sti ti pe et te te P r M Pla la S Pa he r I et er the s - - - P am s- s he ar th O p ps rs re er & Ot ig O to o pe C pp ks ll C an n T p Ice ra ac A e/c a ra W , S ttl e/C y w ry gs Bo ttl ar na Ba Bo ion tio ct fec nfe on Co C PRODUCT

Figure M2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at St Kilda beach

SITE RATINGS ST KILDA BEACH 1999 TO 2004

8 7 6 Survey 1 Survey 2 5 Survey 3 4 Survey 4 Survey 5 3 Survey 6

SITE RATING SITE Survey 7 2 Survey 8 1 Survey 9 Survey 10 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 S URVEY PERIOD

Figure M3: Visual site ratings at St Kilda beach

Environment Report 45 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAG E NUMB ER O F ITEMS IN EAC H MATERIAL G RO UP ST KILDA BEACH 2003/2004

8 VISIBLE SURVEY FULL-SCALE SURVEY 6

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVGNO OF LITTER 0

r s c d e cs sti per o a eous o bb Glass Butt Pla P Metal W Ru e Organic Cerami cellan arett is ig C M MATERIAL G RO UP

Figure M4: Material type found per survey at St Kilda beach

EPA Victoria 46 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX N – WERRIBEE SOUTH BEACH Werribee South beach 2003–04 quick stats

Summary Visible survey

Werribee South beach is in the municipality of Avg. no of items found: 0.6 per survey Wyndham City Council, located on the north-west Most littered item: Clothing/material When most litter found: Surveys 1 to 6 (1 item) side of Port Phillip Bay. Werribee South is not a Full-scale survey highly frequented beach. It is surrounded by Avg. no of items found: 0.4 per survey farmland and the closest town is over 10 kilometres Most littered item: Other paper When most litter found: Survey 5 (3 items) away. Weight of litter: 20 grams Over the past three years it has been observed that Site rating survey Highest rating: 0 (Rated 0 each survey) the vegetation is spreading closer to the water and Lowest rating: 0 (Rated 0 each survey) this year there was only a small beach area left.

There was an 84 per cent decrease in the amount of The average number of items found per survey at litter found this year, with only one product type Werribee South is illustrated in Figure N1. (clothing and material) remaining in the visible survey area over six surveys. Product types

Visible and full-scale survey results There was only one item of clothing and material found at Werribee South beach, which was found in Over the past five years an average of 3.9 items was each of the first six surveys. Then, for the found per year at Werribee South beach in the subsequent four surveys, this item lay just outside visible survey. The average amount of litter found in the survey area. 2003–04 was 0.6 items per survey. This was a decrease of 84 per cent from 2002–03, when the In the full-scale survey the highest littered item was average items found were 3.8 items per survey. other paper with a total of two items found over the 2003–04 period. The other two items found in the Werribee South beach was ranked as the least full-scale survey were one item of bags, sack & littered beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 sheeting and one cigarette butt. period. Packaging and boxes was the most littered item in An average of 3.1 items per year was recorded in the 2002–03 visible and full-scale surveys with an full-scale surveys over the past five years. The average of 1.4 and 1.3 items found per survey average amount of litter found in the full-scale respectively. These items were not found in 2003– survey during 2003–04 was 0.4 items, compared to 04. 2.8 items in the 2002–03 period, a decrease of 86 per cent. Figure N2 shows the full-scale survey for Werribee South beach, as there was only one item found in Werribee South beach is ranked as the least littered beach in the full-scale survey.

Environment Report 47 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

the visible survey. As illustrated, only three different Regeneration rates products were found this year. Regeneration rates were zero for all survey intervals Visual ratings apart from surveys 4 to 5, when the regeneration rate was 0.4 items per day. The number of items that The site rating for each survey in 2003–04 was 0, were generated per day between surveys is show in compared to an average rating of 0.85 per survey in Table N1. the 2002–03 period.

The highest visual rating was recorded in 2000–01 Regeneration rate: Survey items per day when the average rating was 1.9 per survey.

Survey 1–2 0.0 Figure N3 shows the site ratings during the past five Survey 2–3 0.0 years. Survey 3–4 0.0 Material groups Survey 4–5 0.4

The miscellaneous material group had the highest Survey 5–6 0.0 number of litter items in the visible survey, with an Survey 6–7 0.0 Survey 7–8 0.0 average of 0.6 items per survey. Survey 8–9 0.0 Paper items were the most common type of litter in Survey 9–10 0.0 the full-scale surveys, with an average of 0.2 items Table N1: Regeneration rates at Werribee South per survey, as shown in Figure N4. beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS PER SURVEY WERRIBEE STH BEACH 1999 TO 2004

S 9 8 7 6 5 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 4 VISIBLE SURVEY 3 2 1

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEM LITTER OF NO AVG 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 PERIOD

Figure N1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Werribee South beach

EPA Victoria 48 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTERED P RO DUC TS IN TH E FULL- S C ALE S URVEY WERRIBEE STH BEACH 2003/2004

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1 ITEMS

0.05 AVG NO OF LITTER AVG NO OF LITTER

0 Other Paper Bags, Sacks & sheeting Cigarette Butts PRODUCT

Figure N2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Werribee South beach

SITE RATINGS WERRIBEE STH BEACH 1999 TO 2004 Sur v ey 1

3.5 Sur v ey 2 Sur v ey 3 3 Sur v ey 4 2.5 Sur v ey 5 2 Sur v ey 6 1.5 Sur v ey 7 1

SITE RATING SITE Sur v ey 8 0.5 Sur v ey 9 0 Sur v ey 1 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure N3: Visual site ratings at Werribee South Beach

Environment Report 49 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP WERRIBEE STH BEACH 2003/2004

0.7 0.6

0.5 0.4 VI SI BLE SURVEY 0.3 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 0.2

0.1

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NOOF LITTER 0

s l cs s ic ic er tts a st b od u Gl a B Meta Paper Pl Rub Wo llaneous te Organ Cerami et ar Misce Cig MATERIAL GRO UP

Figure N4: Material type found per survey at Werribee South beach

EPA Victoria 50 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

APPENDIX O – WILLIAMSTOWN BEACH Williamstown beach 2003–04 quick stats Summary Visible survey Williamstown Beach is in the City of Hobsons Bay, Avg. no of items found: 15.3 per survey Most littered item: Cigarette butts located on the north-west of Port Phillip Bay. When most litter found: Survey 5 (28 items) The amount of litter recorded this year on Full-scale survey

Total litter items found: 33.6 per survey Williamstown beach has decreased dramatically Most littered item: Cigarette butts compared to previous years. This has been mainly When most litter found: Survey 2 (64 items) due to the results of the 2002–03 EPA litter report, Weight of litter: 110 grams which highlighted Williamstown as the worst littered Site rating survey Highest rating: 2 (Survey 10) beach. The Hobson Bay City Council decided, in Lowest rating: 0 (Surveys 3 to 8) addition to other measures, to purchase new cleaning equipment4.

A Beach Tech 2000 beach cleaner, purchased by the The average amount of litter found in 2003–04 was City of Frankston, was trialled at Hobsons Bay 15.3 items per survey. This was a decrease of 90 per beaches on Wednesday 15 January and did an cent from 2002–03, when the average number of excellent job in removing litter, as well as a items found per survey was 152.3. substantial amount of cigarette butts. The litter Williamstown beach was ranked as the ninth most count at Williamstown beach decreased by 72 per littered beach in the visible survey for the 2003–04 cent between the survey before the use of the beach period. cleaner (survey 5) and the survey after using it An average of 47 items per year was recorded in the (survey 6) in the 2002–03 visible surveys. This full-scale surveys over the past five years. The equipment was used on a permanent basis during average amount of litter found in the full-scale the surveys in 2003–04. survey during 2003–04 was 33.6 items, a 40 per The beach was raked before the surveys on most cent decrease when compared to the 56.3 items in survey days, which could explain the reduction in the 2002–03 period. litter found during this survey period. Williamstown beach is ranked as the sixth most Visible and full-scale survey results littered beach in the full-scale survey. Over the past five years an average of 75 items was At Williamstown beach, the amount of litter recorded found per year at Williamstown beach in the visible this year has decreased dramatically compared to survey. Due to the high volume of cigarette butts previous years, as illustrated in Figure O1. found in 2002–03 the yearly average is extremely high.

Environment Report 51 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

Product types Plastic items were the second most littered group in the visible surveys and the full-scale surveys, with The most littered item in 2003–04 was cigarette an average of 2.4 and 4.1 respectively. butts, which accounted for 72 per cent of all litter counted in the visible survey. An average of 11 Cigarette butt and plastic items have been the cigarette butts was found per survey in 2003–04, a material groups most found out of the 10 groups 91 per cent decrease from the 125 cigarette butts in over the past five years. 2002–03. There was a decrease of 69 per cent in Figure O4 provides a breakdown of the average 2003–04 when comparing results with those from items found in the 10 material groups. 1999–2000. Regeneration rates Other plastic items were the second most littered The highest regeneration rate was 14.3 items per day item, with an average of one item found per survey between surveys 3 and 4, while the lowest as shown in Figure O2. regeneration rate was 0.9 items per day between Visual ratings surveys 8 and 9, as shown in Table O1. Visual ratings also decreased from previous years.

The highest rating in the 2003–04 survey period was 2, and this was recorded on the last survey date in Regeneration rate: Survey March. The lowest rating was 0, which was recorded items per day from surveys 3 through to 8. Survey 1–2 7.1 The average rating in 2003–04 was 0.5, a 78 per Survey 2–3 7.5 cent decrease from an average of 2.25 in the 2002– Survey 3–4 14.3 03 survey period. Survey 4–5 4.6 Survey 5–6 3.0 The highest average visual rating of 4.4 was Survey 6–7 2.6 recorded in 1999–2000. Survey 7–8 2.7 Figure O3 shows the site ratings per survey for the Survey 8–9 0.9 past five years. Survey 9–10 2.3

Material groups Table O1: Regeneration rates at Williamstown beach Cigarette butts represent 72 per cent of all litter recorded during the visible survey, with an average of 11 items per survey. An average of 25.8 cigarette butts was found per survey during the full-scale surveys in 2003–04.

EPA Victoria 52 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

AVERAG E NUMB ER O F LITTER ITEMS P ER S URVEY WILLIAMSTOWN BEACH 1999 TO 2004

160 140 120 100 FULL-SCALE SURVEY 80 VISIBLE SURVEY 60 40 20

AVG NO OF LITTER ITEMS AVG NO OFLITTER 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIOD

Figure O1: Average number of litter items counted in each survey at Williamstown beach

TO P 1 0 MO S T LITTERED ITEMS IN TH E VIS IB LE S URVEY WILLIAMSTOWN 2003/2004

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 AVG NO OFLITTER ITEMS s c s s e s r s s tt sti ck er as es op tte pe tle m Bu la i ap Gl typ R ie Pa ot ite te r P p St -P er ll & rv er B er ret he po ers th -a ng /se th T th a Ot lli p O m tri es O .E. l o ig o ap niu S su P Al C L Wr i is y lum T a A eaw ns ak Ca T er Be PRODUCT

Figure O2: Top 10 most littered items, visible survey at Williamstown beach

Environment Report 53 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

SITE RATINGS WILLIAMSTOWN BEACH 1999 TO 2004

8 Sur v ey 1 7 Sur v ey 2

6 Sur v ey 3

5 Sur v ey 4 Sur v ey 5 4 Sur v ey 6 3 SITE RATING Sur v ey 7

2 Sur v ey 8

1 Sur v ey 9

0 Sur v ey 1 0 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 SURVEY PERIO D

Figure O3: Visual site ratings at Williamstown beach

AVERAGE NUMBER OF ITEMS IN EACH MATERIAL GROUP WILLIAMSTOWN 2003/2004

20 Visible Surv ey 15 Full Scale Survey 10

5 AVG NO LITTERITEMS 0

l r ss cs tts tic eta nic as ape Gla ous Bu Pl P M Wood rga Rubber erami O llane C rette sce Ciga Mi MATERIAL GRO UP

Figure O4: Material type found per survey at Williamstown beach

EPA Victoria 54 PORT PHILLIP BAY BEACH LITTER SURVEY 2003–04

REFERENCES

Note Reference Page no.

1 Bureau of Meteorology 11†

2 Kingston City Council website 12†, 11 www.kingston.vic.gov.au

3 City of Port Phillip website 14†, 17†, 19, 43 www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/summer_cleaning.html

4 Hobson Bay City Council*** 18†, 52 www.hobsons.vic.gov.au

† indicates page number in the main litter survey document (Publication 966).

*** Note: Council meeting minutes (Audit & Accountability special committee) for February 2003 details the budget for new beach-cleaning equipment.

Environment Report 55