Cheers as Hobart City Council votes to ban straws and other plastic utensils

UPDATE: Legal advice should be sought on whether Hobart’s plastic ban breaches any federal competition or fair trading policies, says a Hobart alderman.

UPDATE: LEGAL advice should be sought on whether Hobart’s plastic ban breaches any federal competition or fair trading policies before its implemented, says Alderman Marti Zucco.

Ald Zucco has written to Hobart City Council general manager Nick Heath this afternoon expressing concerns the council’s impending by-law may draw the ire of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“What’s the point of going down this process if legal advice tells us we can’t do it,” he said.

“No advice of this kind was sought before the vote.

“It must go through a proper process — this has been the sledgehammer approach.”

The single-use plastics ban has been met with mixed responses.

Australian Council of Recycling spokesman Robert Kelman said the council’s move was welcomed and mirrored global efforts such as the European Union directive to ban single-use

plastics by 2021.

“In the absence of any effort at all from the Tasmanian State Government to address waste and resource recovery, Hobart council leadership is essential,” Mr Kelman said.

Councillor Bill Harvey, who moved the banning motion, said today that the council had a packaging prototype that could be handed out to businesses over the next 12 months.

“We’ll be guiding them and helping them to transition from petroleum-based, single-use plastics into a compostable packaging,” he said.

EARLIER: HOBART City Council’s single-use plastics ban “smacks of selfishness and grandstanding,” says the head of the Tasmanian Small Business Council.

Chief executive Robert Mallett said his council was not consulted in the lead-up to the passing of the by-law, which will see petroleum-based plastic containers and utensils banned in the capital city municipality from next year.

“This smacks of selfishness to me by those who promoted the idea in the council,” Mr Mallett said.

“It’s grandstanding to make themselves look good rather than a genuine effort to try and change habits of all Tasmanians to improve our environment.

“If the council wanted to demonstrate true leadership, they wouldn’t have just gone it alone like this, they would have talked to the 28 other councils and gone to the state government to help facilitate it statewide. That would be non-discriminatory — there wouldn’t be a business having to charge more for their products in the city than a store in Glenorchy or Kingborough.”

Environment Tasmania director and former Hobart alderman, Philip Cocker, welcomed the ban.

“This is a priceless piece of branding for Hobart, at negligible cost, that demonstrates a caring for the environment,” he said.

“This is a small, but important step in environmental sustainability. With education leading up to the bylaw coming in to effect I am sure all Hobart businesses will be able to implement the bylaw with positive effects on their businesses.”

EARLIER: HOBART will be the first Australian city to ban single-use plastics under a new bylaw approved on Monday night.

The Hobart City Council approved the single-use plastics bylaw which will ban single-use, petroleum-based plastic containers and utensils next year as the council wages its war on waste.

The bylaw will apply to plastic cups, lids, utensils, straws and condiment sachets.

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As the bylaw was approved, applause broke out in the public gallery.

Councillor Bill Harvey, who moved the motion, said it was a bold decision.

“I feel we are nearly there and once it’s signed off and active, then we can celebrate,” he said.

“Once we have single-use plastics out of the waste stream in Hobart then we can say we have achieved something.

“This will add to the way people perceive Hobart across the world as a city that cares about the environment and its people.”

Councillor Bill Harvey moved the motion to ban single-use plastics in the city. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

The council will submit the proposed bylaw and regulatory impact statement to the director of local government for consideration.

If the documents are considered satisfactory, the director will issue a certificate allowing the council to start a minimum 21-day formal public consultation process.

After the public consultation, the council may then formally make the bylaw.

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Cr Harvey said it may take six to nine months for the bylaw to be implemented.

Under the regulation, Hobart food retailers may be hit with fines of up to $1300 if they offer plastic food containers and utensils.

The $1300 fine would come into play if the matter was prosecuted but a council officer could instead issue an infringement notice of $326.

Cr Harvey moved an amendment for the enforcement of penalties to be delayed until December 2020 to give businesses time to adjust.

Isis St Pierre, left, and Maya McDonell at Sweet Sassafras Cafe, which is one of many Hobart businesses that already use non-plastic alternatives. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

The council voted 8-4 in favour of the bylaw after rejecting a committee recommendation to defer the bylaw for a year.

During the debate, Aldermen Tanya Denison, who voted against the bylaw, argued there may be unintended consequences.

She said some businesses may be locked into long-term contracts with suppliers and cashflows may be affected with the associated costs.