Single-Use Plastics To Be Banned In Australia
Australians may soon have to find alternatives for eight every day plastic items which have been described as “problematic and unnecessary” at a meeting of the nation’s environment ministers.
Australia’s environment ministers are planning to phase out a range of “problematic and unnecessary” plastic products over the next four years. Lightweight plastic bags, straws, utensils and stirrers are among the list of products the ministers want to eliminate by 2025.
The hit list was created to provide greater certainty for industry, as the states have been chasing differing bans on plastic items.
The eight ‘problematic’ items set to be phased out by 2025 are:
- Lightweight plastic bags
- Plastic products misleadingly termed as ‘degradable’
- Plastic straws
- Plastic utensils
- Plastic stirrers
- Expanded polystyrene (EPS) consumer food containers (e.g. cups and clamshells)
- EPS consumer goods packaging (loose fill and moulded)
- Microbeads in personal health care products
Conservationists have warned, however, the ambition will not be met unless the voluntary industry targets are backed up by tough regulation.
Australia produces 2.5m tonnes of plastic waste each year, about 84% of which is sent to landfill. About 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste leaks into the environment annually.
