End of an era for single-use plastic bags in NSW
Dr Paul Harvey
Single-use plastics are on the way out in NSW, with a ban on lightweight shopping bags the first change set to occur on 1 June.
Lightweight plastic bags are set to be a thing of the past as New South Wales shoppers prepare for the enforcement of a single-use plastic bag ban from 1 June.
The NSW lightweight plastic bag ban is the last to be enforced across Australia, 13 years after South Australia introduced a similar ban, but is expected to be the first of many plastic bans to be implemented by the state.
Minister for Environment James Griffin said that the plastic bag ban is the result of the “impact plastic pollution is having on our environment,”
“Single-use plastic is used by many of us for just a few convenient minutes, but it remains in our environment for many years, eventually breaking into microplastics,” he said.
It is estimated that single-use plastic makes up about 60 per cent of all litter in NSW and the ban is expected to prevent 2.7 billion plastic items entering the NSW environment over the next 20 years.
“By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we’re helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill,” Minister Griffin said.
The ban that was announced in 2021 to coincide with the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act specifically targets lightweight plastics, including compostable and biodegradable type bags. Contrary to their name, these bags do not breakdown unless they have been treated in a specialised recycling facility.
From 1 November an additional array of single-use plastics will be added to the list of banned items. These include:
- Single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery
- Single-use plastic bowls and plates
-Expanded polystyrene food service items
- Single-use plastic cotton buds and personal care products containing microbeads.
Minister Griffin encouraged all shoppers in NSW to go plastic-free as often as they can, saying “we each have the power to make positive environmental change at an individual level.”
For more information about how you to prepare for the plastic bag ban, visit https://docpjharvey.com/the-plasticology-project/
