Evaluating Public Awareness of Addressing Plastic Waste in Australia:

A Google Trends Analysis

Introduction
It cannot be denied that plastic has become part of our daily consumption habits. It can be
found in our household products, packaging materials, sportswear and even electronic
devices. Since then, plastic waste has become a major global problem where 19-23 tonnes of
plastic have polluted the lakes, rivers and oceans (Plastic Pollution, 2022), which ultimately
threatens marine biodiversity. Various efforts have been carried out to address the problem,
including the 3R campaign, single-use plastic restriction and clean up social project.

In the case of Australia, the country has produced 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste, lost
$419 million of economic value due to not recycling plastic waste and dumped 130,000
tonnes of plastic into the ocean each year (Department of Agriculture, Water and The
Environment, 2021). To overcome this problem, the government issued the National Plastic
Plan 2021, intending to reduce plastic pollution by 2030. In short, the plan contains
government regulations and a call to action for society to overcome plastic waste. Keeping
this in mind, this essay is interested in monitoring public awareness and attitudes towards the
plan using Google Trends since online searches often reveal people's hidden opinions and
unforeseen behaviours (Laico, 2018).

Google Trends is a tool run by Google that allows users to analyse the popularity of
keywords across regions and over time. It can be used for a variety of purposes, including
topic analysis, regional interest, related queries and real-time data. Google Trends is used
since Google Search is the most popular search engine, processing over 40,000 search queries
every second. Given its sophisticated tool, this essay aims to (1) assess the level of public
awareness of five solutions contained in the National Plastics Plan and (2) compare and
contrast their awareness across states in Australia.

Many studies have used Google Trends to assess public interest, awareness and behavioural
intentions about environmental problems. Findings from Laico (2018); Pretorious et. al
(2021); Dabbous, et. al (2023) and Durmuşoğlu (2017) confirmed that Google Trends
provides valuable information about public engagement in environmental issues and can be
combined to triangulate actual behavioural trends. However, it cannot be denied that Google
Trends data have several limitations and sometimes biases, which the users must be aware of.
Method
This essay used the following process to assess the potential of Google Trends in monitoring
public awareness of five solutions for handling plastic waste set by the government. Firstly,
this essay downloaded the National Plastics Plan 2021 for the data collection and read it
thoroughly. After that, this essay listed all possible solutions that can be done at an individual
level. The solutions include Plastic Recycling, Clean Up, Return and Earn, Plastic Ban and
Cigarette Butts Litter Reduction. This essay then collected data from 1 February 2021 to 30
October 2023 since the plan was first introduced publicly in March 2021.

In terms of data analysis, this essay observed the graph movement along with the trend and
then presented the findings descriptively (RQ1). To answer the RQ2, this essay compared and
contrasted online searches from each state.

Findings and Discussion

In general, according to the interest over time section, “Return and Earn” is the only solution
that has an upward trend, while “Clean Up” and “Plastic Recycling” experience a downward
trend. The two other solutions, “Plastic Ban” and “Cigarette Butts Litter Reduction”, show a
constant trend.

Image 1
Public Entries of the Five Solutions Based on the Interest Over Time

According to interest by subregion section, Clean Up activity is the most searched keyword,
and there is no query for Cigarette Butt Litter Reduction in all states.
Image 2
Public Entries Based on Subregion

1. Clean up
Looking at more detail, Clean Up is the most favourite search over a two-year period with an
average of 54 interests. It started with 59 interests, and the number experienced a sudden
increase and reached its peak (97-100 interests) between the end of February and early March
annually. This is because cleanup is scheduled every year in the first week of March. From
this fact, the number is predicted to fluctuate again in February-March next year. The
following image presents several keywords typed by the public to search for clean up activity
seen from the related queries section. People generally search for the day and date the
activity will be held.

Image 3
Related Queries Related to Clean Up
This graph suggests that people actively address plastic waste through social activity.
According to the National Rubbish Report (2022), there were approximately 934,443
volunteers who took part in this activity. Considering the high level of public interest, the
government and related organisations can hold this activity twice or thrice a year.

According to the interest by subregion section, New South Wales holds a value of 100,
representing the highest level of interest. This number is in line with the New South Wales
Rubbish Report (2022), where the number of volunteers registered was 318,971, very much
higher when compared to the second most participants, which is Queensland, with 181,988
volunteers (Queensland Rubbish Report, 2022).

Image 4
Public Entries for Clean Up by Subregion

2. Return and Earn

The second most searched keyword is Return and Earn or container deposit scheme with an
average of 20 interests. The number started with 15 interests and peaked on September 12-18,
2021 (69 interests). This is because Return and Earn was closed during the lockdown and
reopened during that time. The number then fluctuated between October 29-November 4 with
19 interests were recorded. This finding implies that the public is aware enough of the
importance of bottle, can and container recycling regardless that they will get something in
return. The number could be increased by giving people more incentives, for example, $50c
per bottle. The following image presents some of related queries regarding the Return and
Earn scheme. People generally search for the locations of Return and Earn machines in their
respective areas.
Image 5
Related Queries Related to Return and Earn

According to the interest by subregion section, New South Wales holds a value of 100,
representing the highest level of interest. It can be because the New South Wales government
puts much more effort than any other states. Therefore, it would be better for other states to
evaluate and learn how the New South Wales government runs out of this effort to reach
more public awareness and involvement.
Image 6
Public Entries for Return and Earn by Subregion
3. Plastic Recycling
The third most searched keyword is Plastic Recycling with an average of 8 interests. The
number started with eight interests and peaked at 32 interests between 6-12 November 2022.
From this number, it can be assumed that the public is not interested enough in recycling
plastic waste and throwing it down in the dustbin. This makes the country lose $419 million
of economic value by not recycling plastic waste. From this, the government should make
more efforts to attract the public to recycle their plastic waste. The following image presents
some of the related queries about Plastic Recycling. People generally search for plastic
recycling machine locations and some plastic recycling programs, such as REDcycle and
RecycleSmart.

Image 7
Related Queries Related to Plastic Recycling

According to the interest by subregion section, South Australia holds a value of 100,
representing the highest level of interest. It is unfortunate that there is no query recorded from
the Northern Territory. In fact, through its discussion paper, the government states that
“Together, we have saved an estimated 110 million plastic shopping bags from use and each
year recycle about 75 per cent of eligible containers,” (Department of Environment, Parks
and Water Security, 2023). It implies that plastic recycling has been common in the Northern
Territory, and this absence does not mean that society is unaware of plastic recycling.
Image 8
Public Entries for Plastic Recycling by Subregion

4. Plastic Ban
The fourth most searched keyword is Plastic Ban with an average of only 3 interests. The
number started with two interests and ended up with no interest. This low number may be
because the public still finds it difficult not to use single-use plastic when shopping.
Supermarkets such as Coles, Aldi and Woolworths no longer provide plastic bags,
encouraging the public to bring their own shopping bags. However, small shops still provide
free single-use plastic, so the public is unaware of this regulation. Therefore, the government
should find the most effective way to encourage the public to bring their shopping bag and be
firm to small retail owners not to provide single-use plastic. The following image presents
some of the related queries about Plastic Ban. People generally search for the details of
plastic ban regulations in their respective states.
Image 9
Related Queries Related to Plastic Ban

According to the interest by subregion section, Western Australia holds a value of 100,
representing the highest level of interest. Again, it is unfortunate that no query is recorded
from the Northern Territory. In fact, through its discussion paper, the government states that,
“In 2011, we were the second jurisdiction in Australia to ban lightweight plastic shopping
bags,” (Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, 2023). It implies that the
government has committed to banning single-use plastic, and this absence does not mean that
society is unaware of the plastic ban.

Image 10
Public Entries for Plastic Ban by Subregion
5. Cigarette Butts Litter Reduction
The last solution chosen from the National Plastics Plan 2021 is Cigarette Butts Litter
Reduction. Even though it is clearly seen that there is no entry, this essay still wants to
discuss this matter as it is an interesting and important topic.

Image 11
Public Entries for Cigarette Butts Litter Reduction

According to the National Plastic Plan 2022, “Of the 24 billion cigarettes sold in Australia
each year, 8 billion are littered. If placed end to end, these could wrap around Earth 6.5
times”. In the Northern Territory, cigarette butt is the most commonly found plastic waste in
the environment. However, there is still no regulation to tackle the issue (Department of
Environment, Parks and Water Security, 2023). Meanwhile, based on the National Rubbish
Report 2022, cigarette butts litter ranked second in the top 10 rubbish items with 13.6%. In
each state, cigarette butts litter is in the top 3 for individual plastic waste, with the percentage
of 10-22%.

Table 1
National Rubbish Across States
No State Rank % No State Rank %
1 VIC 1 21% 4 WA 2 19.3%
2 QLD 3 10% 5 TAS 1 20.2%
3 SA 2 11.8% 6 ACT 2 22.5%

To address this issue, the government plans “to initiate an industry-led cross-sectoral
stewardship taskforce to reduce cigarette butt litter in Australia and consider potential
stewardship schemes,” (Department of Agriculture, Water and The Environment, 2022).

Limitations
Monitoring public awareness about a particular topic through an internet search is more
manageable than conducting a survey. Nevertheless, these findings may not be reliable since
the data from Google Trends is based on a sample of searches and may not represent the
behaviour of the broader population. Google Trends also may not capture all of the users’
queries. For example, although this essay has tried to type all possible keywords in the
Cigarette Butts Litter Reduction column, the absence of findings may be because people use
different keywords to search for this problem. Finally, Google's search algorithms continues
to evolve. Changes in how Google indexes or presents search results may impact the data
provided by Google Trends.

Conclusion
This essay has discussed plastic waste management set by the government through the
National Plastic Plan 2021 and public awareness monitored from Google Trends. The results
revealed that the public is aware enough of plastic waste and some solutions to tackle the
problem. Based on the findings, the public favour clean up activity the most compared to
other solutions. In contrast, the public, especially smokers, have not paid much attention to
reducing cigarette butts litter. Therefore, raising public awareness about this matter,
especially smokers, is urgently needed to overcome this issue.

REFERENCES
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https://www.cleanup.org.au/rubbish-report

Clean Up Australia. (2022). New South Wales rubbish report 2022.

https://www.cleanup.org.au/rubbish-report

Clean Up Australia. (2022). Queensland rubbish report 2022.

https://www.cleanup.org.au/rubbish-report

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Department of Agriculture, Water and The Environment. (2021). National plastics plan 2021.
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Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security. (2023). Phasing out single-use
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