Unknown Risk in Plastic Rubbish Lining Australian Coast

Debris and plastic litter found by Tangaroa Blue, an Australian Marine debris initiative, on Christmas Island, Australia in this undated handout. Tangaroa Blue/Handout via REUTERS

Plastic now dwarfs every other kind of litter found on Australian shores and 80 percent of what the nation uses still ends up in landfill.

A federal parliamentary inquiry has heard confronting evidence about how the pollution crisis is affecting Australia’s oceans and waterways, and how efforts to understand and tackle the problem are failing.