By Mary Ward
Australia will move towards nationally consistent rules on single-use plastic items, as NSW prepares to strip shelves of plastic straws, cutlery and cotton buds next week.
The decision to develop consistent rules across jurisdictions was made at a meeting of state and territory environment ministers on Friday, following concern from retail groups that state-based bans were a headache for businesses.
Plastic straws will be banned in NSW from November 1.Credit: AP
While major supermarket chains Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have already banned many single-use plastic items from their stores, Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said he was concerned the rules – which the association fully supports – were becoming difficult for smaller retailers.
“The challenge is that we have different products being phased out at different times across the country,” he said.
From November 1, NSW will ban the sale of single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery; bowls and plates; expanded polystyrene food service items; and plastic cotton buds and microbeads in personal care products.
The state government implemented a ban on lightweight plastic bags in June.
Exemptions will allow people who need plastic straws for accessibility reasons to purchase them online, and from pharmacies, manufacturers or wholesalers. Exemptions will also allow the products to continue to be used for medical, scientific or forensic purposes, and a two-year grace period will permit supply of plastic-lined paper plates and bowls while alternatives are sourced.
However, while all states and territories are introducing rules to reduce plastic use, they are doing so on different timelines.
Queensland banned single-use plastic straws and cups in September 2021 but will not extend its ban to cotton buds until next year. Victoria’s single-use plastic ban does not come into effect until February.
A spokesperson for the federal Department of Environment said the decision to move towards national rules was “great for the environment and will make businesses’ life easier, particularly those with a national footprint”.
The NSW government estimates its single-use plastic bans will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter over the next 20 years.
It has partnered with recycling business Great Plastic Rescue to collect excess single-use plastic items from wholesalers, retailers and not-for-profits.
More than 22,000 tonnes of lightweight plastic bags have been collected through the partnership since that ban came into effect in June.
Businesses found to still be supplying the products after the rules come into force face fines of up to $55,000, with a maximum penalty of $275,000 for failing to comply with a stop notice issued by the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency has investigated 69 reported breaches of the lightweight plastic bag ban this year but has yet to issue a fine or caution.
NSW Environment Minister James Griffin will take part in a clean-up dive at Manly Cove on Sunday morning, to raise awareness of the amount of plastic in the city’s waterways.
The Dive Against Debris was founded by Dive Centre Manly’s Richard Nicholls in 1995, and has since been adopted by thousands of dive centres across the world.
“Sydney Harbour is choking on plastic,” Nicholls said, describing the bans on single-use plastic as “fantastic”.
Data from the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project released earlier this year showed Manly Cove was one of the nation’s most microplastic-polluted beaches.
“This is exactly why we must end our reliance on single-use plastic, and why the NSW bans are critical for changing behaviour and improving the state of our environment for the benefit of biodiversity and future generations,” Griffin said.
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