Aussies join in for 20th Clean Up Day

Clean Up Australia Day founder Ian Kiernan has stepped up calls for national laws to
crack down on e-waste producers, as more than a million Australians rolled up their
sleeves for the annual litter bust.
Mr Kiernan said it was time the producers of electronic products such as computers
and mobile phones were made accountable for the millions of tonnes of e-waste
created by obsolete consumer goods.
He wants Australia to follow other countries, such as some in Europe, and introduce
national laws that would force manufacturers to take products back once their
lifespan expires.
"It's called extended producer responsibility and when you buy that product the
producer of the product has got to have a cradle to grave responsibility for its
collection, dismantling and recycling at the end of its life," Mr Kiernan told AAP.
"This needs to happen right across the board."
Mr Kiernan said e-waste was being dumped in landfill at three times the rate of
other rubbish and was an enormous challenge, particularly with cheap, imported Asian
goods that had a short lifespan, and mobile phones that lasted between 18 and 20
months.
For too long manufacturers had enjoyed a "free ride", but that had to end, he said.
Three-quarters of the three million computers bought in Australia every year end up
as rubbish, with e-waste responsible for 70 per cent of the toxic chemicals found in
landfill, including cadmium and mercury.
E-waste was one of five rubbish challenges raised on the 20th anniversary of Clean
Up Australia Day on Sunday.
Almost 600,000 volunteers took part in the annual clean-up at 7073 sites around the
country.
They were expected to bag more than 15,000 tonnes of rubbish, with cigarette butts
topping the haul, followed by plastic, beverage containers and lolly wrappers.
Mr Kiernan said almost 7.2 billion cigarette butts were dropped each year, leaving a
"toxic cocktail" that took five years to break down.
And the number is growing, despite a decrease in smoking. Mr Kiernan attributes this
to bans on smoking in public areas, which are forcing smokers on to the street. He
has called for more facilities to dispose of butts.
Other challenges include illegal dumping of rubbish, pollution of waterways and
boosting recycling rates - 50 per cent of all rubbish collected is fit for
recycling.
The anniversary coincided with a $6 million Victorian government package to help cut
litter by a quarter over the next five years through education, more recycling bins
and fines.