The Latest Breaking News from Pip Kiernan

Butt it out: cigarettes dominate yearly litter count

Australians have been urged to bin their butts as the plastic ends of cigarettes rank as the most pervasive source of discarded pollution.

AAP · Feb 3

More than 800,000 chip in to clean up tonnes of rubbish

From bras to buckets, an army of volunteers has picked up weird and wacky objects among tonnes of rubbish in the largest national environmental clean-up.

AAP · Mar 1, 2025

'Triple threat' vapes littering streets and parks

More disposable vapes are ending up in streets, parks and waterways, underscoring the need for a nationally-consistent recycling scheme.

AAP · Feb 12, 2025

Rubbish reveals Australian habits, fads and stories

As vapes make up a growing portion of litter and the prominence of face masks diminishes, Australia's rubbish reveals a lot about the ways locals behave.

AAP · Feb 1, 2024

Call for national strategy to force Australian vaping industry to clean up waste

Lithium-ion batteries embedded in the products have been blamed for an increasing number of hazardous fires at landfill sites

The Guardian - AU · Sep 30, 2023

Calls mount for national solution to toxic vape waste

Australia urgently needs a national strategy to deal with hazardous and toxic waste from vaping products, environmental campaigners say.

AAP · Sep 29, 2023

Woolworths and Coles change strategy as report reveals two-thirds of Aussie rubbish is plastic

Woolworths and Coles adopt new strategies to phase out plastic bags from stores as report reveals two-thirds of rubbish is plastic.

The New Daily · Feb 16, 2023

Rise in plastic trash reflects worrying consumer trend

An annual report that details what clean-up volunteers are finding in the environment is further proof that Australia's plastics crisis is worsening.

AAP · Feb 15, 2023

Environment groups call for urgent action on hazardous waste from e-cigarettes

Head of Clean Up Australia says disposing of vapes is ‘a new and serious environmental issue’

The Guardian - AU · Feb 12, 2023

Clean Up Australia tackling the scourge of face mask pollution through citizen science

Concerns about disposable masks littering the environment and creating hazards for marine life and birds promotes Clean Up Australia to launch a citizen science project.

ABC News · Feb 17, 2022