The Australian prime minister announced that states and territories will develop a timeline to ban exports of recycled waste in an effort to help tackle the global ocean pollution crisis.

According to The Guardian, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison noted that only 12 percent of materials are recycled properly, which is something he wants to change. He also stated the export ban aims to keep materials out of countries where the waste "runs the risk" of ending up in the ocean.

Last year, it cost Australia $2.8 billion to export nearly 4.5 million tonnes of waste, with most going to Vietnam, Indonesia and China, according to the report. The prime minister’s move comes amid concern about Australia’s curbside recycling program and the amount of plastic waste in the Pacific region, added the report.

The Guardian has more:

The prime minister has vowed to do more to tackle plastic waste in the world’s oceans, saying the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres will be banned.

Scott Morrison said only about 12% of materials are properly recycled in Australia and he wanted that to change. With state and territory leaders, he has laid out a plan for environment ministers to improve the recycling system.

“There will be no export of plastics and paper and glass to other countries where it runs the risk of floating around in our oceans,” he said in Cairns after a Council of Australian Governments (Coag) meeting on Friday.

Read the full article here.