In an eventful weekend for plastic pollution when two states announced bans on single use items - WA jumped ahead of the pack.
The fast-tracking of the WA Plan for Plastics is a great move. Introducing plastic bans in 2021-22 instead of 2023-24 will make a big impact on single use plastic takeaway waste and litter.
The banning of plastic straws, cutlery, cups plates and bowls, thick plastics bags, expanded polystyrene containers and helium balloons this year, makes WA the leading jurisdiction in tackling problem takeaway plastics.
These plastics items are habitually amongst the most littered items in the State. The 2020 Clean Up Australia report estimated that discarded plastic items represented 43% of all litter collected. We need to stop the flow of plastics into the environment as it keeps accumulating year on year, lasting many decades.
As our Plastic Free Places (PFP) program demonstrate hospitality businesses and consumers are ready and willing to make lasting changes to avoid problem plastics. In 12 locations where PFP operates (including Bassendean and Victoria Park) over 8 million single use plastics items have been avoided or replaced with reusable, non-plastic or certified compostable alternatives.
