Environment Minister David Speirs wants to ban single-use plastic items from South Australia

Single-use plastics including coffee cups, straws, cutlery and shopping bags should be banned, Environment Minister David Speirs says — do you agree? Vote in our Sunday Mail poll.

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Single-use plastics including coffee cups, straws, cutlery and shopping bags should be banned, Environment Minister David Speirs says.

A discussion paper released on Sunday seeks public feedback on banning some single-use items from the state, extending SA’s plastic shopping bag ban to thicker bags and changing the 10 cent refund under the state’s container deposit scheme.

Mr Speirs said action needed to be taken to reduce plastic waste littering our environment.

At least 8 million tonnes of plastics end up in the world’s oceans each year, with projections for plastics to outnumber fish by 2050 if current trends continue.

“Plastic is a valuable material integral to modern life. But when littered, it ruins our environment’s pristine image, and harms marine and terrestrial life,” he said.

Public consultation on the paper, Turning the tide on single-use plastic products, closes on February 22, with Mr Speirs set to take action if South Australians are on board.

Environment Minister David Speirs

Mr Speirs told the Sunday Mail that South Australia had traditionally led the nation in recycling and didn’t want the state to stagnate under his watch., as SA celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its plastic shopping bag ban.

“I think that’s where the public sentiment is, the thicker plastic bags, the straws and plastic lined coffee cups are the sorts of things we want to take to South Australians and ask whether they want them to be part of life in SA or not,” he said.

“We’re looking at doing something here and looking at banning items if there is a public appetite to do so. I do think we will be moving in that direction, I do think the community wants that.

I do think there is that public support and I am keen to provide the leadership to get there.”

Further analysis on the economic and community impacts of recommendations will be taken before the Government takes any further steps, Mr Speirs said.

South Australians use about 255 million plastic straws and up to 210 million plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups each year, based off population estimates.

Mr Speirs said action on single-use plastics was needed both to reduce the amount of plastics going to landfill but also to stop products from littering our parks, oceans and reserves.

Commonly littered single-use plastic items include confectionary wrappers, takeaway coffee cups and lids, straws, drink stirrers, soft drink bottles, cotton bud sticks, cigarette butts, food packaging and plastic bags.

“South Australia is a national recycling leader but the amount of waste we create continues to increase every year,” he said.

Some of the items that would be banned.

“We want to use this to increase recycling but we want to avoid use in the first place.”

Action on single-use plastics has been taken around the world as concern grows about the amount of waste flooding into our oceans, at a rate of a full garbage truck every minute.

France became the first country to announce a national ban on single-use plastics in 2016, with businesses prohibited from selling plastic cups and plates from next year.

The European Union last year announced its plan to ban a number of single-use plastics, including straws, cutlery, cotton buds and balloon sticks.

Bans on certain single use items have already been implemented in the US cities of Seattle, Malibu and New York City, while a ban came into place in Indian capital New Delhi in 2017.

LET US KNOW

■ Should all supermarket checkout and produce grocery bags be made from compostable material?

■ Should South Australia take measures against single-use plastics including straws and coffee cups?

■ Should the ban on lightweight shopping bags include thicker?

■ Should the container deposit scheme ban the sale of drink containers that present recycling challenges?

■ How is the container deposit scheme operating? Should the 10 cent refund be changed?