WE all know the appalling problems that plastic is causing to our environment, plastic shopping bags being among the leading offenders. There is no law restricting the use of such bags in NSW. Such legislation exists in South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT. Queensland plans to introduce legislation restricting the use of plastic bags in 2018.
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For NSW, a change may be coming. In August last year a Bill, the Plastic Shopping Bags Prohibition Bill, was introduced into the NSW Legislative Assembly but did not reach the voting stage.
A slightly different Bill was introduced into the Legislative Council in October last year but it too was unsuccessful.
One of these two bills will be reintroduced into the Legislative Council on February 23 - and we hope that it will be voted on and passed.
If the bill is successful, retailers will be prohibited from supplying shoppers with plastic bags of a thickness of less than 35 microns. They will be obliged to advise shoppers of this, and to provide alternative bags, for which they will be allowed to charge. Retailers need the consistency provided by legislative support if they are to ban plastic bags.
Retailers who supply plastic bags recognise the need to reduce the number being issued, but recognise that customers want them for convenience. In fact, a big retailer in Western Australia introduced their own plastic bag ban late last year, and had to reverse that decision the day it was introduced because of shopper opposition.
Legislation to force retailers to stop supplying single use plastic bags and to force customers to accept the real need to clean up the environment is therefore needed and let’s hope it will happen as a result of next week
The MP’s who introduced the two Bills last year stated that the objectives of the proposed law were to reduce the consumption of plastic shopping bags and thus reduce the pollution they cause, and to encourage the use of more sustainable shopping bags. There will be a maximum fine of $50 000 for retailers who fail to comply with the law. What is of concern about the Bill as it stands is the possibility of exemptions, such as exemptions for single use pull off bags used in supermarkets for unwrapped fruit and vegetables.
Hopefully such exemptions will not be recommended. As with any legislation, the devil is in the detail. Successful plastic bag ban legislation will be a win-win for both retailers and customers. Retailers will not have to supply many thousands of plastic bags a month, thereby reducing costs, and customers will have the satisfaction of knowing that the environment is being less polluted.
