Did you know that 75% of marine debris found around the coastline of Australia is plastic, and comes from local land-based sources?
The New South Wales Government has released its Cleaning Up Our Act- Redirecting the Future of Plastics in NSW Discussion Paper. It is seeking your views on how plastic waste and litter could be reduced, with four outcomes:
- The phase-out of single use plastics
- Tripling the proportion of plastics recycled in NSW by 2030
- Reducing plastic litter by 25% by 2025
- Making NSW a leader in plastic research and innovation
A welcome, long awaited promise is to phase-out lightweight plastic shopping bags (less than 35 microns thick, including those made from degradable and 'compostable' plastic).
You can read the discussion paper and respond via their simple or longer survey at https://yoursay.dpie.nsw.gov.au/plastics-plan - we encourage you to make a submission (closing date 8 May). You can make an individual submission by sending your views (key points below) to - [email protected].
The more submissions that support a single use plastics phase-out, the more likely it is to happen. Please act as soon as possible.
I support urgent action to eliminate problematic and unnecessary single use plastics in NSW, including:
- A ban of lightweight plastic bags (including degradable and ‘compostable’ bags) in 2020
- A ban on single-use plastic takeaway items such as straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates/bowls, coffee cups/lids, containers and heavyweight plastic bags in 2021
- An immediate ban on polystyrene cups, bowls and containers
- An investigation into and future policies designed to reduce other single use plastics in the home, in retail, business and industry, agriculture and used in the marine environment
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