Over 300,000 pieces of litter removed from local waterways

Sydney Airport’s partnership with Seabin™ is providing valuable data on plastic pollution in local waterways.

The partnership project aims to analyse and reduce litter in waterways that flow through and around Sydney Airport. More information on the partnership can be found here.

Two litter extractions completed

Since the partnership began, quarterly litter extractions have removed a combined total of 347.24 kg of litter, including 309,351 plastic items.

Most remarkable is what you can’t easily see – around 289,000 microplastic pieces, which make up almost 9 in every 10 items collected. These tiny fragments pose unseen risks to wildlife, water quality and human health.

From the first Seabin™ litter extraction, 16,772 items were manually counted at the Seabin™ Ocean Health Lab and the majority of items were microplastics standing at 93.68% of litter collected.

The second extraction captured 17,095 plastic items from just 99 days.

The top finds were microplastics (88.8%), tiny foam fragments and hard plastic pieces – the kind of pollution that are hardest to remove once they spread through the environment.

Litter poses a serious threat to ecosystems and biodiversity. By understanding the waste in our waterways, the project hopes to target the waste that is most damaging, so we put programs in place to reduce waste from the source.

Looking forward to further impact

The first phase of the five-year plan is a 12-month trial at Engine Pond East (a waterway near the airport) which is currently underway. If the trial proves successful, we hope to work with relevant stakeholders to take the project to other waterways around the airport, including Alexandra Canal and the Cooks River.

Environment Manager – Operations, Brad Coates from Sydney Airport said seeing the high proportion of microplastics was eye-opening and caused him to have a rethink about what strategies can be employed to reduce litter flowing into the airport waterways.

“It’s not just about reducing litter in the water – it’s about understanding what’s going into our waterways and taking action to protect them,” says Brad.

"Realising that such a large proportion of the litter is made up of microplastics highlights that what we see on the surface is likely only part of the problem. Styrofoam is a significant contributor in our litter traps - we are keen to work with stakeholders, such as the Cooks River Litter Prevention Working Group, to understand whether they are observing similar patterns. By collaborating with others, we hope to develop strategies to reduce litter at the source, before it enters the waterways.”

SYD volunteers sort through the litter extractions

Sydney Airport staff and Seabin™ scientists dedicate time in the Ocean Health Lab to sort, count and categorise the waste. This transforms the litter collected into valuable data that helps us understand pollution sources and trends.

Sorting through the litter takes time – and SYD volunteers visited the Ocean Health Lab for three days to learn more about how this process works. What looks to be natural matter at first glance, is in fact riddled with microplastics that need to be separated and counted.

Seabin™ CEO and Co-Founder Pete Ceglinski said Sydney Airport’s commitment to litter extractions and analysis is a great example of working together to tackle plastic pollution: “This project with Sydney Airport is a major milestone — not just for Seabin, but for how we work together to tackle plastic pollution. It shows what’s possible when organisations move beyond awareness and into action. It’s also a positive step forward for environmental stewardship and reflects the growing momentum behind a new and emerging nature market.”

Sharing the project with the community

Now, the community has even greater visibility into the effort. A new 24/7 live stream just launched on the Seabin™ website providing a front-row view of the positive impact this project is having. Watch the pollution getting collected in real time.

As part of Sydney Airport’s sustainability commitments, Seabin™ and SYD will continue with quarterly removals and ongoing data analysis throughout the trial.

Read more about how Seabin™ is helping clean our waterways across NSW.