Join The Great Plastic Rescue in NSW

Since June 1, it has been illegal for businesses in NSW to give customers lightweight plastic bags - or to have them in stock. But there's now a solution for companies that have leftover supplies...

While the ban on lightweight plastic bags is of course a win for the environment and brings NSW into line with the rest of the country (plastic bags were banned in SA thirteen years ago!), it can pose a short-term burden for businesses, retailers and wholesalers that have been left holding surplus stock.

But there is a solution - if you (or a business you know) still has banned surplus stock, don’t bin it! Register to take part in the Great Plastic Rescue and give clean, unused single-use plastics a meaningful second life.

By joining the rescue mission, single-use plastics can be rescued, recycled, and remanufactured into valuable products with longer useful lifespans. How cool is that?

Clean Up Australia Chair, Pip Kiernan, said a collaborative effort is required to solve our plastic waste challenges. “Bans on problematic single-use plastics are really good news for the environment, but we need to make sure any excess stock has a new life, rather than ending up in landfill. We need to support a circular economy, where everything is a resource, and there is no such thing as waste.”

How The Great Plastic Rescue works:

1.   If it’s banned, don’t bin it! Save and store your surplus stock

2.   Register to join the rescue before 22 July 2022 at www.greatplasticrescue.co

3.   The Great Plastic Rescue team will be in touch to coordinate logistics

4.   Your surplus single-use plastics will be rescued, recycled and remanufactured into a new Australian-made product

The Great Plastic Rescue is collaborating with innovative partners across the state to make a real difference through a voluntary program to gather unused, excess single-use plastic bags. Once collected and sorted, the lightweight bags will be reprocessed and recycled onshore, enabling what were once single-use items to be remanufactured into Australian-made products with longer, useful life spans. 

The NSW Great Plastic Rescue is modelled on the successful Australian-first rescue mission delivered in Queensland in 2021, which collected around 3 million banned single-use items and reprocessed almost two tonnes of single-use plastics for remanufacturing into higher-value products.

What is happening in NSW:

 Banned from 1 June:

• lightweight plastic bags of 35 microns or less (including compostable and bioplastic alternatives)

Plastics bags not banned from 1 June include:

• thicker plastic bags over 35 microns (such as bags at some supermarkets and boutique stores)
• barrier bags such as produce and deli bags, bin liners, compost caddy liners, nappy bags and pet-waste bags

Further plastic bans from 1 November will see the following items removed from circulation:

• single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, and cotton buds (including compostable alternatives to these items)
• expanded polystyrene food ware and cups
• rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads