Litter data insights 2025
Alongside citizen scientists across the South Pacific, Sustainable Coastlines has been collecting litter data for more than seven years. In October 2025 we celebrated reaching the milestone of 3,000 litter surveys and audits. Now, we’re sharing some of what we know about litter in Aotearoa, thanks to those surveys.
Read on to find out to learn which regions in Aotearoa are most impacted by the litter problem, the top items affecting our coastlines, and just how much of it is plastic.
More questions? Delve deeper into the data at insights.litterintelligence.org where you can explore the data by location, material type, timeframe, and more.
The litter data below is for New Zealand from the beginning of litter data collection in July 2018 and 31 March 2025.
