Australians addicted to toxic plastics

If you are a regular visitor to your local beach then you've probably noticed more and more detritus.

Australia’s use of plastics has hit a record 4.2 million tonnes a year; and the oceans are paying the price.

Australians, it seems, prefer convenience over a pristine environment, figures provided by the Australian Marine Conservation Society suggest.

Australia uses a record 80,000 tonnes of plastic a week - the equivalent weight of one-and-a-half Sydney Harbour Bridges, and generates 1.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste every year – about 38kg every second.

In fact, Australians sets an unwanted record of using 4,189,600 tonnes of plastic products and packaging in 2024-25, according to the latest Australian plastics flows and fates report, surpassing the previous high set during the Covid-19 pandemic.

AMCS is calling for future reports, now released annually, to include data on plastic pollution – as was previously reported in the 2019-20 plastic flows report.

AMCS Plastics Campaigns Manager Cip Hamilton said: “If you left the tap on and flooded the bathroom, the first thing you’d do is try to cut the water supply. Instead, the government's approach to managing plastic is to just keep mopping while the tap gets turned up and up.

"The only way to end plastic pollution is to cut back on how much plastic is generated.

“The federal and state environment ministers all agreed packaging reform was needed in 2022, again in 2023, and again last Friday. Ministers can agree and agree all they like, but agreement is not stopping a single piece of plastic from reaching our ocean. We need action.

“Some problematic single-use items such as lightweight plastic shopping bags have declined following state bans, but the use of thicker plastic shopping bags and plastic produce bags has shot up. 

"State and territory bans have been a great start and can work, but item-by-item bans will always be one step behind, playing endless whack-a-mole against a rising tide of plastic overproduction.

"This is precisely why we need strong national packaging laws that mandate reductions, set design standards and make companies responsible for the packaging they use.

“Our homes, our waterways, our beaches, and our ocean are drowning under a flood of plastic. Plastic entangles, starves, smothers and poisons marine life. Across Australia, sea turtle hatchlings have hundreds of pieces of plastic in their guts, seals and dolphins are being strangled, and our beloved corals are being suffocated."

Image: Colleen Hughson via BeachPatrol

French activists block cruise ship

It is not just Venice and Amsterdam where locals are heartily sick of cruise ships.

Environmental activists in Brittany, France, recently prevented passengers from a cruise ship from entering the port of Concarneau in Finistère, news portal Travel Mole reported.

Activist groups including Stop Croisiè, res BZH and Extinction Rebellion prevented the Seven Seas Voyager ship from tendering guests ashore.

Some protestors even took to the water brandishing a banner reading ‘We are the iceberg’ - a nod to the Titanic disaster,

The Seven Sea Voyager can accommodate almost 700 guests, who some locals did want to see.

“We think they’re an ecological absurdity and a symbol of social inequality,” one activist told local newspaper Ouest France.

Opposition against cruise ship visits has been growing.

Last year residents of the nearby port of Douarnenez jeered cruise passengers with shouts of "you are not welcome" and "shame on you".

That was directed at guests of the Atlas Ocean Voyages ship World Traveller, which only accommodates about 100 passengers.

In southern France, Marseille mayor Benoît Payan has openly criticized large cruise ships which he called "floating cities".

A 2023 study revealed Marseille and Channel port Le Havre were among Europe’s most polluted ports.

Amsterdam to say "no" to cruise ships

Amsterdam is set to ban cruise ships from its waters and close its cruise terminal.

The largest city in the Netherlands has taken the move cut pollution and overcrowding in the city, Travel Mole reports.

The city has annually welcomed more than 100 cruise ships a year.

“Cruise ships in the centre don’t fit in with Amsterdam’s task of cutting the number of tourists,” said Ilana Rooderkerk of the D66 party, which controls the city along with the Labour party and environmentalists.

The city has been pushing measures to crack down on too much tourism and nuisance behaviour, including smoking cannabis in public.

This has involves cleaning up the red light district and shunning stag and hen's parties.

As yet, there has been no timeline given for the cruise terminal closure.

The ban will not lead to the end of shore excursions to Amsterdam.

Cruise lines also offer trips to Amsterdam when docking at Ijmuiden and Rotterdam.

Amsterdam attracts up to 20 million annual visitors.

Rooderkerk recently compared cruise tourists to a "plague of locusts" descending all at once on the city. 

Why tourists are avoiding Chiang Mai

Tourists are avoiding visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest city, because of high air pollution levels.

Poor air quality has been affecting the city for several weeks after local farmers undertook a series of burnoffs in the region.

Thailand’s health ministry this week advised people not to partake in outdoor activities and to wear masks to avoid breathing in the polluted air.

The Thai Hotel Association Northern Chapter told local media that hotel bookings had plunged to just 45% occupancy.

The city welcomed over 10 million visitors annually before the pandemic.

In recent weeks Chiang Mai air pollution levels reached 289 on IQAir’s air quality index, which is reported to be one of the worst in the world.

Authorities blamed a combination of forest fires and crop burning.

The one way Covid-19 has been good for planet earth

Covid-19 lockdowns around the globe have led to air quality improvements in many countries, a new study reveals. 

IQAir's 2020 World Air Quality Report said emissions from industry and transport fell during lockdowns, with 84% of countries enjoying improved air quality.

"The connection between Covid-19 and air pollution has shone new light on the latter, especially as many locations have observed visibly cleaner air - revealing that air quality improvements are possible with urgent, collective action," the report said.

IQAir looked at air quality in more than 100 countries. 

It found cities like Singapore and Bangkok showed significant improvements when they imposed 'circuit-breaker' movement restrictions.

It expects, however, to see air pollution levels to rise again when business and travel gets back to pre-pandemic levels, Travel Mole reported.


Asian cities continue to be the most polluted in the world with most found in either China or the Indian sub-continent.


Hotan in China's western Xinjiang region was the world's most polluted city, but the next 13 were all in India.


Wildfires were also a major contributor to high pollution levels with Los Angeles and Melbourne seeing the largest increase compared to 2019.