With Queensland and South Australia, announcing consultations on their next stage bans on up to 20 single use plastic items, the race is on to advance more action on plastic pollution.https://www.replacethewaste.sa.gov.au/surveyhttps://e-hub.engagementhub.com.au/single-use-plastics
The field of items has widened considerably with products such as plastic cups, polystyrene meat and fruit trays, barrier bags, sauce sachets, confetti, bait bags and fruit stickers in the frame. Importantly so-called biodegradable plastics allowed in past years but chemically treated to fragment and spread microplastics into the environment will be prohibited.
There is a mix of timetables for particular items up to 2024 in the South Australian proposal; while Qld has yet to declare its rollout plan. We urge both states to move quickly, and set the benchmark for the rest of Australia. There are plenty of alternatives in the market. They can be avoided, they can be replaced with reusable items or switched to non-plastic or certified compostable items. We need to stop the ever growing load of plastic pollution in our environment.
The sooner we can harmonise across Australia the better it will be for our waterways, oceans, marine life, food chain, consumers and retailers.
With almost one third of the 3.5m tonnes of plastic consumed in Australia every year, being for single uses and the vast bulk littered or landfilled – we need to act asap.
SA Discussion Paper: https://www.replacethewaste.sa.gov.au/survey
Qld Consultation: https://e-hub.engagementhub.com.au/single-use-plastics
