25/06/2019

40-yr-old KFC plastic bag found

Elliot Peters May 17
30-40 year old plastic bag found intact under 8m of ocean off Bulcock Beach

 A local underwater clean up group, SCCUD - Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers, has found a mostly intact plastic bag under 8m of ocean water in the pumicestone passage off Bulcock Beach. While it doesn't look too intact in the image, it was almost fully intact when it was discovered underwater, half full of silt and tangled in rocks.

 The volunteer community group conducts monthly underwater clean up's. These focus on the Northern Pumicestone Passage and the Mooloolah River estuary. Group founder and organiser, Elliot Peters, reached out to KFC Australia to ascertain the age of the bag. A spokesperson from KFC Australia stated "...judging by the logo it would be [from the] 70s -80s."

 This startling discovery further proves the longevity of plastics, even in harsh environments. The unfunded group is committed to monthly surveys in both areas, systematically sorting and reporting all findings to the Australian Marine Debris Initiative and Project Aware. "We take the time to carefully remove debris, sort it, reuse or repurpose what we can through local artists, recycle or dispose of responsibly whatever is left over", said Elliot. "In the 18 months we've been operating, we have collected over 500kg of debris, including almost 20km of fishing line. Sadly we are barely able to cover even 1000 square metres before we need to start again in the same spot, there are areas with dozens of tyres and cobwebs of fishing line that we would love to clean up but we just don't have the time", he continued.

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 40-year-old KFC plastic bag found in Sunshine Coast waterway
Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers found debris and a 40-year-old plastic KFC bag in the ocean.Credit:Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers

 Sunshine Coast diver Elliot Peters has been picking up rubbish in waterways for a while but nothing could've surprised him more than finding a 40-year-old plastic KFC bag under water.

 Mr Peters, who is the founder of Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers, has been clearing waterways for almost one year and record their findings for a charity called Project Aware. "We decided to focus on that spot just near Bulcock Beach where we dive once a month," he said.

 "We get a lot of rubbish at the mouths of the river and we do our best to collect it and do our part for the environment. We do our bit while enjoying the dive as a social thing." Mr Peters said their work was critical in protecting the environment to prevent entanglement, choking and death of animals.

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 'Pretty mind-blowing': KFC plastic bag from the 1970s is found during a clean-up of the ocean floor
The plastic bag displays the distinctive face of the fast food chain's founder, Colonel Sanders

 A KFC plastic bag from 40 years ago has been found full of silt and tangled in rocks eight metres underwater. The bag was retrieved by Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers as they scoured the waters off Bulcock Beach in Queensland last month.

 The volunteer group, who cleaned up each month, said the bag was 'almost fully intact'.

 Elliot Peters, the group's founder, said a KFC spokesman believed the bag was from the 1970s, judging by the logo.

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 Plastic bag found in Sunshine Coast waterway could be up to 40 years old and it's just the tip of the iceberg

This plastic bag found under 8m of water on the Sunshine Coast is thought to be 30–40 years old. Covered in silt and tangled among rocks, a single-use plastic bag found under eight metres of water on Queensland's Sunshine Coast could be up to 40 years old — and the find is just the tip of the rubbish iceberg.

 Key points:
  • Plastic film is the third most common type of litter in Australian waters
  • Volunteer divers on the Sunshine Coast have pulled almost 550kg of rubbish from two waterways in just eight months
  • Sunshine Coast items retrieved include 25km of discarded fishing line and more than 7,000 individual items
  • Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
  • AUDIO: 'Mind-blowing' branded plastic bag discovery in Sunshine Coast waters (ABC News)
  • The KFC bag was discovered by a volunteer group called Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers (SCCUD) in the Pumicestone Passage at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra, an area known for its sandy beaches and crystal clear waters.
The group's organiser Elliot Peters said he sent a photograph of the bag to the fast food chain, which estimated it was 30 to 40 years old, based on the logo. "It's hard to say [how long the bag had been there], but obviously you don't keep a KFC bag lying around and then drop it into the water 40 years later, so it's obviously been around in the environment somewhere, whether underwater or not," Mr Peters said.

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 Alleged 40-year-old KFC plastic bag found mostly intact during ocean cleanup in Australia

 According an ABC News article on June 13, Peters then sent a photo of the bag to the fast food chain.  Shockingly, KFC revealed that from the logo and design, the bag was estimated to be around 30 to 40 years old.

 Despite plastic bags being flimsy and paper thin, the fact that it could have survived in such a “harsh environment”, with minimal wear and tear, is a testament to the durability and longevity of the material.

 Till now, it is uncertain how long the lifespan of a plastic bag is before it degrades. Estimates have ranged between 10 and 1,000 years.

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