Greater Sydney Harbour
Greater Sydney Harbour is an international icon and includes the world class Parramatta River and areas of stunning natural beauty along the harbour foreshore and in its catchments. It is a local and international tourist destination as well as a commercial port and has around two million people across 21 local government areas who call the catchment home.
Greater Sydney Harbour’s health and beauty is being damaged by litter.
When it rains, stormwater systems are overwhelmed by the volume of litter carried from streets and carparks, which then overflows into local creeks and waterways. Tonnes of material are captured every year through the efforts of councils, communities, organisations, and the NSW Government, however a lot more escapes into the broader marine environment. The cost of removing litter from the environment on this scale is currently in the millions of dollars every year[2].
Watch the video below to see how litter travels from the streets and would eventually end up in our beautiful Sydney Harbour and the ocean, degrading the overall quality and health of the catchment.
The community agrees that litter prevention action is needed in the Greater Sydney Harbour catchment to stop litter at the source before it enters the environment. 82% of respondents to the 2021 Sydney Coastal Councils Group Community Perception on Litter Survey stated that litter is a problem in our waterways.
What is this portal for?
We want the Greater Sydney Harbour catchment to be a clean, safe and healthy environment that we can all share and enjoy.
With the vision of “Creating a Litter-free Sydney”, this portal encourages a collaborative approach among the many Greater Sydney Harbour catchment communities to work together to reduce the overall volume and incidence of litter entering the environment. A catchment approach to litter prevention acknowledges that there are many organisations responding to common littering behaviours and issues across multiple types of sites. Many great projects currently exist within the catchment that can network and collaborate to increase the impact and reduce litter entering the environment.
This portal forms part of the implementation of the Greater Sydney Harbour Regional Litter Prevention Strategy which has set the following objectives:
1. Provide for a regional approach to achieve the NSW litter prevention target of 60% reduction in litter by 2030;
2. Reduce the volume and incidence of litter entering Sydney Harbour and associated waterways through litter prevention activities;
3. Support litter prevention activities within councils and other organisations in the Greater Sydney Harbour Catchment.
1.
Provide for a regional approach to achieve the NSW litter prevention target of 60% reduction in litter by 2030;
2.
Reduce the volume and incidence of litter entering Sydney Harbour and associated waterways through litter prevention activities;
3.
Support litter prevention activities within councils and other organisations in the Greater Sydney Harbour Catchment.
This is a joint collaboration between the Sydney Coastal Councils Group and Parramatta River Catchment Group, with grant funding from NSW Environment Protection Authority.
What to know more about the strategy?
References
1. Banner Image: Sculpture showing the impact of marine litter on the environment were on display in iconic locations across the Sydney region as part of the Don’t be a Tosser! campaign (Source: NSW EPA https://www.marine.nsw.gov.au/knowledge-centre/newsroom/news/pre-2023/marine-litter-campaign-hits-the-road).
2. NSW Environment Protection Authority (2022), NSW Litter Prevention Strategy 2022-30, NSW EPA. https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/-/media/epa/corporate-site/resources/litter/22p4233-litter-prevention-strategy-2023-30-v8.pdf?la=en&hash=DDCACF7C39DA86C102205C976C90AFB62BC1614A