Linda Davies started picking up rubbish during regular beach walks on Perth's coast four years ago and was surprised by how much litter she found.
She wasn't the only one who was concerned, noticing a large group of like-minded community members who diligently picked up rubbish each week in Cockburn Sound, south of Perth.
With all this rubbish going in the bin, Dr Davies, who works at the University of Notre Dame in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, thought it could be put to better use.
Dr Davies decided to spearhead a study analysing 12,659 pieces of litter the group picked up between November 2018 and January 2021.
That research has shown a dramatic reduction in single-use plastics since bans were introduced at the state and federal government level.
"I thought if I collect it and analyse it scientifically, we'll have evidence to basically see where the rubbish is coming from and if there's any changes in the rubbish that we find [over] time," Dr Davies said.
Plastic plummets by 50 per cent
Most of the litter collected by the group was plastic, but they also found a large amount of fishing-related waste such as ropes, fishing lines and bait bags.
In 2018, the state government banned lightweight plastic bags, while three local governments around Cockburn Sound implemented waste mitigation measures.
Dr Davies said concurrently in 2020, her research showed there was a 42 to 58 per cent reduction in balloons, straws, bottle caps and hard plastics associated with food.
"In 2019 the rock lobster fishing requirements changed, and they had to sink pot ropes … so the rope wouldn't get caught in propellers anymore and they couldn't entangle whales," she said.
"There was a 45 per cent reduction in the number of rope pieces or fragments which I've picked up on the beach in two years."
Recfishwest said since the introduction of its 'Reel it in' Campaign in 2013, 167 kilometres of fishing line, 27,000 hooks and 170,000 bait bags had been disposed of in fishing spots along the Canning-Swan rivers.
Dr Davies said the reduction of soft plastic had continued since subsequent bans.
By 2021, the state government banned plastic plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, stirrers, thick plastic bags, polystyrene food containers and helium balloon releases.
At the end of 2022, plastic produce bags, polystyrene packaging, microbeads, takeaway coffee cups and lids will also be banned.
Environment Minister Reece Whitby said if you cannot buy it, you cannot consume it, preventing it from polluting the environment.
"Cutting off the supply right at the beginning means that material won't get into the environment," he said.
"We can be assured that there are tens of millions of plastic items that are no longer in landfill or in the environment as litter."
Mr Whitby said the government would work through the transition before seeing if any other plastic items should be banned.
COVID-19 presents new waste challenges
Dr Davies said it was important to monitor waste trends in the wake of the pandemic.
"With the COVID-19 pandemic, we did see that there was extra plastic from straw wrappers because there was that big push to try and protect people," she said.
She said she had been finding significantly more face masks since the mandatory policies came into play, as well as rapid antigen tests.
"And recently I've seen the rapid antigen tests just laying around on the ground, so not on the beach yet but I'm assuming they'll wash down there at some point," she said.
More than 10 million free RAT tests have been distributed to the public through the state government.
Mr Whitby agreed, saying COVID waste was a concern.
"In terms of public health, the priority has got to be the safe disposal of that material."
Mr Whitby said he was having ongoing discussions with the Department of Health regarding the re-use or re-purposing of discarded masks.
Plans for beachcombing bins to become permanent feature
Dr Davies would like to set up dedicated waste collection sites for beachcombers so the litter from around Western Australia can be formally reported and recycled.
"If we can capture the information that these people are just collecting the litter for, we will be able to further evaluate the effectiveness of all the different bans and that way we'll be able to move forward and have a really positive outcome."
George Brown, who picked up litter for Dr Davies' study, said it was in the public interest to keep Western Australia's beaches clean and safe.
"It's always quite interesting to find that odd, unusual piece and then finding some more, so seeing the variety of rubbish that washes up on the beach or is left by people has been an education," he said.
