The Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction has announced that single-use plastics are to be banned in the ACT with the phase-out to begin in the New Year.
The Minister, Chris Steel said Canberrans were “overwhelmingly supportive” of regulatory action to ban single-use plastics.
“Times have changed, and our community and our Government wants to reduce the legacy of plastic waste in our environment for following generations,” Mr Steel said.
“The ACT Government will introduce legislation to ban the sale and distribution of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic products early next year,” he said.
Mr Steel said items to be banned immediately from the commencement of legislation would include plastic cutlery, polystyrene takeaway food and beverage containers and plastic stirrers.
He said items to be banned 12 months after the legislation included plastic fruit and vegetable barrier bags, oxo-degradable plastic products and plastic straws.
“Products like expanded polystyrene foam containers are a relic of the past and will be banned immediately because they are not sustainable, and there are clear alternatives already available,” Mr Steel said.
He said the ACT would become the only jurisdiction in the country to ban fruit and vegetable barrier bags.
Minister for Disability, Suzanne Orr said disability representatives would be consulted as part of the bans to ensure that people with disability still had access to plastic straws if needed.
“We’ve heard from the community that, for people with disability, there isn’t always an alternative option to plastic straws,” Ms Orr said.
Mr Steel said the ACT would continue to advocate for national recognition of regulatory approaches to phasing out single‑use plastics, despite its proposal failing to win support at the recent Meeting of Environment Ministers in November.
He said it was anticipated that the Plastics Reduction Bill 2020 would be debated in the Legislative Assembly in the first quarter of 2020.
