Everyday items you could soon be fined $11,000 for

Millions of Australians could soon be hit with a whopping $11,000 fine as a harsh ban comes into force.

Residents of NSW could soon be hit with major fines of up to $11,000, for supplying or carrying single-use plastic items.

The phase out, which will see everyday plastic items ditched from November 1, will stop around 2.7 billion pieces of litter entering the state’s waterways and environment over the next 20 years, according to the NSW government.

The new list of vetoed items comes under the government’s Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act, passed in November last year, with the ban also applying to plastics considered biodegradable or compostable or bio.

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Plastics straws are among items on the NSW government’s list of banned items.

The list of banned items includes:

• Single-use plastic straws

• Stirrers

• Cutlery

• Plates

• Bowls

• Cotton buds

• Expanded polystyrene food service items

• Rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads e.g. some face cleansers, shampoos or toothpaste.

The ban will not apply to:

• Serving utensils e.g. salad servers or tongs

• Packing seals for food and beverage items.

• Items included within or attached to that packaging, through a machine-automated process (such as a straw attached to a juice box or a spoon included with a yoghurt).

Individuals will be fined if supplying plastic plats, bowls, polystyrene food service items and cutlery.

Individuals supplying, selling or giving away any of the banned items will be slapped with a maximum court penalty of 100 units, equivalent to $11,000, while businesses supplying banned items could cop 500 units ($55,000).

The penalties are doubled if a manufacturer, producer, wholesaler or distributor business is caught supplying plastics on the list. Groups can receive up to $110,000 in fines and individuals $22,000.

Those who are found to supply banned items will be issued with a Stop Notice. Failure to adhere to the stop notice may result in a $55,000 individual or $275,000 business fine.

Businesses which continue to supply banned plastic items could be fined up to $275,000.

Exemptions may apply for people with a disability or medical need.

The latest ban follows the NSW government’s removal of all lightweight plastic bags state wide, which was issued in June this year.

“Single-use plastic is used by many of us for just a few convenient minutes, but it remains in our environment for many years, eventually breaking into microplastics,” said Mr Griffin.

“Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60 per cent of all litter in NSW. By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we’re helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill.”