Single-Use Plastic Bags

It is estimated that 180 million bags enter the Australian environment every year. That’s 5.8 bags a second.

NSW was the last Australian state to implement a ban on single-use plastics bags, in 2022. Now every Australian state and territory has a ban on lightweight single-use plastic shopping bags in place.

These laws typically cover bags under ~35 microns thickness and include some compostable variants in some states.

Thicker plastic bags are still widely available although WA and SA have led the way in banning those, with QLD implementing strict conditions on heavyweight plastic bags.

Despite nationwide bans on lightweight plastic bags, plastic bags are still a problem litter item.

In FY24, plastic bags (food, retail and garbage) were the third most counted item by Clean Up Australia volunteers, representing 6.9% of all litter collected.

THE PROBLEM

While it’s clear that progress has been made, plastic bags still make their way into our environment. Once they do, the impacts are devastating – choking, smothering, and agonising death to the animals that ingest them.

Globally, more than 100,000 marine animals and 1,000,000 sea birds experience loss of life to plastic each year.

It’s estimated that 56% of the planet’s whale, dolphin and porpoise species have consumed plastic.

It’s a shocking reality to confront. More so for our beautiful wildlife. But there are simple actions you can take to make a difference.

Let’s look at how we can tackle the problem together.

What can you do?

Together we can prevent single-use plastic bags ending up in landfill or in our environment.

Choose to reuse

Buy a reusable shopping bag, preferably one that is made of recycled content or is recyclable/compostable at the end of its life. Recycled content plus recyclable would be even better.

Remember to bring it with you each time you shop.

Stuck without a bag? See if they offer a paper bag or box

Many stores will offer you a paper bag or cardboard box to take your groceries home in.

Boxes are a great alternative as it’s essentially reusing a waste item – and fully recyclable.

Bring a reusable produce bag

Single-use bags aren’t only at the checkout. Grab a reusable produce bag or go naked in the veggie aisle and skip the produce bag all together.

More Information

Clean Up Australia supports an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for soft plastics including plastic bags, which would see them recollected and recycled at end-of-life. In Australia, 6000 kgs of clothes are dumped in landfill every 10 minutes.

Retailers and producers supplying plastic bags would be required to pay a levy for each item placed on the market.

The scheme is currently in development by Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia and awaiting approval by the ACCC.

Find out more