The federal government says it is working with state and local governments to find solutions to plastic pollution.

In its 30th year, the annual Clean Up Australia Day has resulted in thousands of tonnes of rubbish being collected by volunteers across the country.

Over 630,000 Australians spent the day picking up rubbish that would otherwise have remained as litter in the environment. 

Clean Up Australia chairwoman Pip Kiernan, the daughter of founder Ian Kiernan, said she is proud of the movement that has grown over three decades. 

"Australians are frustrated with the amount of waste and plastics we are creating," she said.

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"So Clean Up Australia gives them a great way to band together and do something practical to make a difference."

Across 7,000 locations, volunteers used kitchen implements and climbed trees to pick up garbage polluting the landscape. 

"It saves out environment from birds trying to eat it and all the things that think it is food to them," one child volunteer told SBS News.

On average, each Australian produces 100 kilograms of plastic waste per year. 

But the implementation of container deposit schemes around the country has made an impact. The scheme involves people returning plastic bottles for recycling in exchange for 10 cents. 

"Plastics remain the number one item our volunteers have collected - 31 per cent," Ms Kiernan said.

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"We have seen a slight decrease in plastics this year - and that is because of the 10 cent refund scheme, which is now a national scheme. And that has had an impact because once you put a value on waste, it no longer ends up as litter."

Ray Moss from the NSW Maritime Environmental Services says he has noticed a reduction in plastic bags floating in the water.

"There has been at least a 75 per cent reduction in plastic bags we get [in the water]. They used to float around just below the water. You don't see that any more."

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley applauded the initiative and said the issue of reducing waste is the central focus of the the first National Plastics Summit at Parliament House on Monday.  

"We are bringing together industry, state, local government, federal government and school students - as they are the future - to talk about how we can't let this keep going."

In 2018, the federal government introduced its National Waste Policy, which aims to promote the development of the "circular economy, shifting away from 'take, make, use and dispose' to a more circular approach where we maintain the value of resources for as long as possible."