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South Australia leads rest of Australia to ban plastic bags

Media Release, 18 June 2008

South Australia is showing the rest of Australia the way forward on solving the problem of plastic bags and their impact on the environment by pursuing a ban, Clean Up Australia said today.

The introduction of legislation to SA Parliament today by Environment Minister Gail Gago to ban light weight, single-use plastic bags is the most effective way of dealing with the low rates of recycling of plastic bags and the huge numbers that get dumped in the environment, Clean Up Australia Chairman Ian Kiernan AO said.

"We know that less than 3 per cent of plastic bags are recycled each year, leaving almost 97 per cent of plastic bags taken at the check-out still in circulation.

"There is a simple solution, stop using them altogether. Communities across Australia have already taken action by banning plastic bags in their own towns and suburbs and the South Australian Government is demonstrating political leadership that has so far been lacking being elsewhere in Australia," Mr Kiernan said.

"Three years of delays since the end of the voluntary code of practice has resulted in almost 11.5 billion more being used in Australia and either ending up in landfill or dumped in the environment. That's more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic every year.

"Delays in introducing a national ban on plastic shopping bags are costing our environment dearly. An estimated 3.75 billion are being handed out each year in Australia. A large proportion of these end up in either landfill or choking our waterways and marine life," Mr Kiernan said.

In a national Newspoll survey conducted by Clean Up Australia in 2006, 84% of respondents supported a ban on plastic bags to help reduce landfill, damage to marine life and greenhouse pollution.

Mr Kiernan dismissed suggestions that a levy on plastic bags would help solve the problem.

"A levy only has a short term benefit - after a while people simply become used to paying the additional charge and continue to use more and more plastic bags.

"This was attempted in Ireland but it has recently increased its levy to try and halt the increase in plastic bag use. A levy does not work in the long run."