Wondering what SUP with plastic bans in your state?

Lightweight plastic bags are now banned everywhere in Australia! NSW has finally caught up to the rest of country with a ban on lightweight plastic bags of 35 microns or less (including compostable and bioplastic alternatives) coming into effect on June 1, 2022.


We recently surveyed our community, asking how important it was to phase out these single use and problematic plastics in Australia and 86% of respondents said they considered it "extremely important". Chair of Clean Up Australia, Pip Kiernan said that the overwhelming majority of rubbish picked up by volunteers over the last 33 years that Clean Up Australia has been taking place is plastics. “We know that community desire for change is enormous and Australians support the phasing out of problematic plastics."


In NSW, single-use plastic items and packaging make up for 60% of all litter in NSW and the government estimates that 2.7 billion items will be stopped from entering landfills and the environment over the next 20 years as a result of the ban.

While South Australia has led the way in most categories of single-use plastic bans, followed closely by Queensland and the ACT, the other states are making ground - especially Western Australia.


WA has brought in regulations to ban the heavyweight (commonly 15c) plastic supermarket bags and helium balloon releases, from January 2022 but not actively enforced until July 2022.


Queensland was the first to ban polystyrene foodware and plates, cups and bowls (if not enclosed with a lid) from September 2021 and ACT is the first to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds (from July 2022).


See the table below for who has done what and when or who is considering action according to their public announcements.

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