In response to the release of the National Litter Index by Keep Australia Beautiful and comments by Tasmanian Environment Minister Matthew Groom, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania Peter Whish-Wilson made the following comments:

"Keep Australia Beautiful is funded by the beverage industry who are opposed to effective recycling initiatives such as a container deposit reward scheme. Their litter index methodology is fundamentally flawed and doesn't accurately represent the litter problem.

The Greens spokesperson for Fisheries and Whaling, Senator Whish-Wilson provides the following comments on how the Coalition Government deliberately dodged an opportunity to talk marine conservation with the United States’ Secretary of State, John Kerry.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “I was delighted to finally hear a leader talk of the value of our oceans and the need to battle the scourge of marine plastics.

“It is telling that a global figure, like John Kerry, publicly advocates for the world to better manage our oceans yet our government is silent on the issue.

Today Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson called on Environment Minister Greg Hunt to outline his new plan for delivering the economic, social, and environmental windfalls of a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) given the Standing Council on Environment and Water (SCEW) was disbanded this month.

“With up to 3,000 jobs and $500 million in sustainable investment at stake nationally, on top of the millions to be saved by local governments across Australia, Minister Hunt needs to immediately outline how he will get this process back on track,” Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens spokesperson on waste and recycling, launched an online petition to demonstrate to the new Environment Minister how popular a national container deposit scheme is.

“I congratulate Minister Hunt on his appointment and call on him to introduce a national cash-for-containers scheme, something that the overwhelming majority of Australians are in favour of," Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“Not only is a container deposit scheme extremely popular, it will help keep litter off our beaches, parks and out of our waterways.

Today in Tasmania, Australian Greens spokesperson for waste and recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, announced the Australian Greens' costed plan to fund research that will fill a gap in the Government's approach to the threat of marine debris.

"We are facing a global plastic pollution crisis in our oceans that both starts and ends right here in Tasmania," said Senator Whish-Wilson.

"Plastic pollution is killing our wildlife, choking our waterways and oceans, and hurting our brand as a clean, green destination.

Better management of Australia's waste provides an opportunity to create new industries and jobs, improve the natural environment and minimise waste production. A container deposit scheme and a national waste register will help this transition.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens spokesperson for both tourism and recycling, returned from this week's 2013 Tasmanian Tourism Conference on "sustainable tourism" shocked to find the event was sponsored by Coca-Cola, a giant multinational which uses corporate lobbying power and deep pockets to block and dismantle popular "refund" or "deposit" recycling schemes, all around the world.

The Australian Greens have highlighted the opportunity for Australia to help solve a global pollution crisis on World Environment Day.

“We are facing a plastic pollution crisis in our global oceans of alarming proportions but Environment Minister Tony Burke can, this World Environment Day, take the most significant action yet to help solve this problem by publicly supporting National Container Deposit Legislation (CDL),” said Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, national spokesperson on waste and recycling.

Tasmanian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson joined Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne today to announce a Greens National Council resolution backing recycling in Australia against the self-interest of multinational corporations.

The Greens National Council, a key decision making body of the Australian Greens party, is meeting in Hobart this weekend.

The resolution reaffirms the Australian Greens determination and commitment to see "cash-for-containers" legislation rolled out across the nation in 2013 after a decade-long battle.