South Melbourne Market introduces plastic bag ban with BYO Bag campaign

Plastic shopping bags will be banned at the South Melbourne Market from this week, when the BYO Bag campaign launches.

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PLASTIC shopping bags will be banned at South Melbourne Market from Wednesday.

It comes as part of a move towards a greener, more sustainable future for the popular market, which is spearheading its own BYO Bag campaign.

Shoppers will need to bring reusable bags, baskets or trolleys, with traders no longer supplying plastic bags.

Forgetful folk can buy recyclable paper bags or borrow a fabric Boomerang Bag for free.

General manager Ian Sumpter said the move was aimed at reducing the amount of plastic pollution that ends up in waterways and parklands.

“Single-use plastic bags cause enormous damage to our environment from the point of production right through to disposal,” he said.

A survey last June found 90 per cent of market shoppers supported a ban and 96 were in favour of the BYO Bag campaign.

And 86 per cent of respondents said they would happily pay for non-plastic alternatives to carry their produce.

“We believe now is the time to act on our pledge for the market to be at the forefront of the war on waste,” Mr Sumpter said.

“It requires a simple change of habit to deliver long-term benefits for the environment and the longevity of the market.”

Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss said the council, who manages the market, was strongly committed to scrapping disposable plastic bags.

Other sustainability initiatives at South Melbourne Market include an organic waste recycling program, food rescue and redistribution via SecondBite, cooking oil recycling into biodiesel, an on-site bottle crusher and roof solar panels.

Details: southmelbournemarket.com.au/BYOBag