Polystyrene

• Enough styrofoam cups are used in Australia each year to circle the world at least five times.¹
• Made from oil, polystyrene foam is non-renewable and non-biodegradable.4
• Instead of biodegrading, polystyrene crumbles into fragments that have no expiration date.²
• Polystyrene is not currently collected though kerbside recycling in Australia.³
• Ingestion of polystyrene pieces, which look like food to many marine species, results in reduced appetite, reduced nutrient adsorption, and starvation for wildlife.4
• Polystyrene is one of the toxins the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) monitors in our drinking water.4
• Polystyrene foam food service ware is non-recyclable and ends up in landfills, waterways or the ocean.4

Marine Litter

• Every year an estimated 7 billion tonnes of rubbish enters the world's oceans.²
• Small plastic pieces, similar in size to plankton and more abundant than plankton, represent a particular risk to filter feeders.¹
• At least 162 marine species, including most sea birds, have been reported to have eaten plastics and other litter.¹
• Three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans annually as the weight of fish caught.³
• Worldwide, people have reported entanglement for at least 143 marine species, including almost all of the world’s sea turtles.4
• An eight metre Bryde's whale was found in QLD in 2000. An autopsy found that the whale's stomach was packed with six square metres of plastic.¹
• Almost 90 per cent of floating marine debris is plastic.4
• Between 700,000 and 1 million seabirds are killed from entanglement or ingestion each year.4