South Australia puts pause to plastic fruit sticker ban over fears of extra cost to farmers

A nation-leading ban on plastic fruit stickers has been paused in one state over fears the cost will prove too great for farmers.

South Australia has delayed the rollout of a nation-leading ban on plastic fruit stickers over fears the cost will be too much for farmers.

The state was set to become the first jurisdiction in the country to make the environmentally-friendly move in September, with NSW looking at a similar ban.

But the South Australian State Government has paused their rollout and now says both states will work together to save money, following concerns fruit and vegetable producers were doing it tough and the cost of new stickers would make it more difficult for them to continue to provide to SA markets.

Any fruit being imported into South Australia will need an eco-friendly sticker when the ban eventually comes into force.

“NSW already had a commitment that they would get rid of these plastic fruit stickers and move to compostable by 2030 — our discussion will be how much sooner than that can we go,” SA Environment Minister Susan Close said.

“We will be able to get rid of these (stickers) which, admittedly, everybody hates … but I didn’t want to cause disruption in supermarkets for people wanting to buy products and I didn’t want to cause too much harm to our local producers either.”

Laser etching is one way to display varietal and barcode information in an environmentally friendly way. Picture: NewsWire

The alternative to plastic fruit stickers are either compostable labels, uncoated paper stickers or laser etchings.

SA taking the lead to cut out plastic stickers meant farmers would be squeezed; compostable stickers are about twice the price, and any fruit sold in the state would need to adhere, regardless if it was grown interstate.

But the eco-friendly September 1 deadline will still bring anti-plastic changes.

From September in SA, plastic fish-shaped soy sauce bottles are banned, as are plastic cutlery and straws which come attached to food and drinks, such as straws on juice boxes.

South Australia was the first state to ban light weight plastic shopping bags, which came into effect in 2009; Victoria and then NSW were the last to follow suit, more than a decade later.