Ban Single-Use Plastics in Australia

Be the voice for our oceans and tell the Australian Parliament we need to legislate to stand up and stop plastic pollution now!

For the first time, a Bill has been tabled in Australia’s House of Representatives that seeks to legislate actions required to address the increasing issues of plastics, packaging, recycling and pollution through the establishment of a mandatory product stewardship scheme.

The Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Plastics) Bill 2019 includes a national ban on a range of problem plastics (including single-use plastics and microbeads), funding for clean ups and sets targets on packaging and recycling.

With ...

Be the voice for our oceans and tell the Australian Parliament we need to legislate to stand up and stop plastic pollution now!

For the first time, a Bill has been tabled in Australia’s House of Representatives that seeks to legislate actions required to address the increasing issues of plastics, packaging, recycling and pollution through the establishment of a mandatory product stewardship scheme.

The Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Plastics) Bill 2019 includes a national ban on a range of problem plastics (including single-use plastics and microbeads), funding for clean ups and sets targets on packaging and recycling.

With our oceans becoming a plastic smog and predictions that the rate of plastic pollution will double by 2030, the time to act has never been more urgent.

The Bill has many hurdles to clear before it becomes law. That’s why we need you to write a submission telling the Australian Parliament that not only do you support the Bill’s action on plastics but want them to be more ambitious in a bid to see an end to marine plastic pollution and harm to marine life.

Make a difference today! With your help we can #stemthetide.

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SEND A SUBMISSION NOW!

It's time to tell the Australian Parliament we need action on plastics.

The Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Plastics) Bill 2019 has been referred to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee which is now accepting public submissions. You have until 13 December 2019, so don’t delay.

Note: Your submission will be treated as a public document and may be published on the internet unless you state you wish it to be confidential.

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I provide this submission to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee in response to the Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Plastics) Bill 2019 tabled in the Senate of the Australian Parliament in September 2019.

Up to 13 million tonnes of plastic is entering the oceans every year and with marine plastic pollution already at crisis levels, Australia must act now to stem the tide before it’s too late. Without action, it is estimated that the plastic in our oceans will outweigh fish by 2050.

I support the Bill’s directives to see outright bans implemented for the most problematic of single-use plastics and microbeads that each day find their way to coastal environments, oceans, rivers and waterways around Australia and across the planet. These items are responsible for millions of tonnes of plastic trash entering and polluting oceans, impacting and harming marine life, devastating ecosystems and travelling through the food chain into food and water.

With global plastic production expected to double within the next 20 years and predicted increase in environmental damage to the oceans, I urge the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee to recommend the following additional measures be considered for inclusion in the Bill:

• The definition of what comprises “compostable” to be clearly stipulated in the Bill.
• Plastic Bags: Bans should be extended to thicker plastic bags (up to 70 microns) and plastic barrier bags (found in the fruit and vegetable section of supermarkets). With the majority of states already having a lightweight bag ban we recommend the ban on lightweight plastic bags to come into effect from 2021. Any bag bans should apply to all wholesalers, importers, retailers and hospitality outlets who provide these products to their customers both in shops and online, including all small businesses.  
• Labelling: To ensure unambiguous and standardised labelling, all plastic products and packaging should be clearly marked how products should be correctly disposed (industrial or home compost/kerbside recycling, soft plastic recycling or landfill) and the percentage of any plastic / recycled content.
• Balloons: In addition to a ban on balloon sticks, plastic balloon attachments (clips, cups, discs and ribbons) should also be banned due to the harm they can cause to wildlife.
• Phase out of non-compostable straws, stirrers, cutlery and utensils, plates and bowls to commence in 2021.
• Microbeads: A ban date of 2021 should be brought forward to 2020 – industry has been involved in a voluntary phase out since 2017.
• Recycled Content: While the Bill has the packaging target of on average 30% recycled content, we believe that 60% average recycled content is achievable by Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) signatories and for some products such as plastic beverage containers (where 100% plastic content already exists with some large producers) a target of 100% be set.
• Food Containers & Cups: More ambitious consumption reduction targets for plastic food containers and cups to be reduced by at least 50% by 2025 with alternatives readily available.
• Beverage Containers: Recycling target should be increased to 100% by 2025 with many beverage companies already using 100% recyclable content.
• Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam containers and cups: I would like to see a product ban on EPS. EPS does not biodegrade, cannot be recycled, animals mistake it for food, it easily breaks up into smaller pieces and the smaller EPS gets the more difficult it is to clean up. This ban would bring Australia into line with many other cities in the US and countries such as Taiwan and Costa Rica.

With Australia being an island nation comprising 34,000 kilometres of coastline and surrounded by oceans, I ask each member of the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee considering the Bill to be ambitious, to set groundbreaking benchmarks that show the world that Australia is a global leader in environmental management and places the highest value on the protection of our oceans.

Whilst we recognise that many of the dates and targets have been directives from the European Union and the Australian Packaging Covenant, we believe Australia has a moral social and economic obligation to be more ambitious and to bring forward many of the dates and targets in the Bill’s schedule of actions.

As each day that passes without action or change, marine plastic pollution continues to cause increasing harm to marine life and delicate ecosystems as well as working its way through the food chain and our planet’s life support system, the ocean.

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