In March 2025, Environmental Justice Australia launched a new report on behalf of Tangaroa Blue and Port Phillip Ecocentre.

The presence of plastic litter and microplastics in the marine environment is recognised as an issue of global concern. From deep ocean basins to our own local waterways, plastic pollution has increased in recent years, impacting all levels of the marine ecosystem with potentially devastating consequences.

Victoria’s first baseline dataset of microplastic pollution in the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers and Port Phillip Bay beaches was gathered in 2017–2020. It estimated nearly 2.5 billion pieces of plastic flow into Port Phillip Bay annually from the surface waters of the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers, of which over 2 billion are microplastics. Litter is also increasing in both rivers.

Citizen scientists continue to gather data on the sources and extent of microplastic pollution. Recent data show microplastic pollution from plastic industry operators continues to be a
problem.

Addressing microplastic pollution requires systemic change, including drastic improvements in product stewardship and a transition to a circular economy. Complementary to that
systemic change, it is critically important to use existing environmental protection laws to prevent plastics entering the marine environment.

This report sets out measures that the Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA), as the State’s regulator of pollution and waste, can and should adopt now to prevent certain types of plastics pollution (including from certain sources) entering the freshwater and marine environment.

This report focuses primarily on plastic industry operators whose activities are linked to
pollution from plastic feedstock, including plastic resin pellets (PRPs). However, it also extends to plastic pollution more broadly and the responsibilities of all Victorians to prevent
plastics entering the freshwater and marine environment.