Queensland Motorists The Filthiest: RACQ
The RACQ has slammed Queensland's highways as the most littered in the country.
The latest Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index has revealed that the state's roads are littered with cigarette butts, plastic bags, take away boxes, cans and chocolate wrappers.
“This is the third consecutive year Queensland has been shamed as the worst offender,” RACQ's Lauren Ritchie said.
The National Litter Index samples rubbish from almost a thousand sites across the country. Queensland's score of 70 pieces of litter per square kilometre was 20 percent higher than the national average.
“Motorists need to understand the flow-on effects of throwing rubbish out of the car window," Ms Ritchie said.
"It is incredibly expensive for local councils or Main Roads crews to clean up roadsides and most don’t have the budget."
Ms Ritchie also suggested motorists carry a bag in their cars for rubbish to avoid both environmental damage and a possible $200 fine if caught littering.
Keep Australia Beautiful CEO Rick Burnett said litter-lined highways did not present a positive picture to tourists and urged Queenslanders to tidy up their act to show they cared.