Banning all single-use plastic products in South Australia has taken a positive step closer with the release of Green Industries SA’s (GISA) latest public consultation report.
The report reveals that the State’s businesses, industry groups and householders all want to phase out a range of single-use plastic products including cups, food containers, bowls and plates.
Releasing GISA’s Report, Turning The Tide 2021: The future of single-use plastic in South Australia Discussion Paper – Consultation Response Document, Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Susan Close said it called for single-use plastic products to be the next items to be phased out.
“More than 3,500 South Australians provided their feedback on these items with an overwhelming 97 per cent of respondents agreeing that single-use plastic was a major issue that needed to be addressed,” Ms Close said.
“Easily replaced items like plastic stemmed cotton buds and confetti will be phased out sooner rather than later, with items like single-use plastic beverage containers and lids requiring further consultation on how quickly phase out can occur,” she said.
“Last week, Queensland announced it would ban a range of products including plastic microbeads, polystyrene packing peanuts and plastic-stemmed cotton buds by 1 September 2023.”
Ms Close said that since starting in 2019, the Plastic Free SA program had helped businesses remove more than five million single-use plastic items, including more than 1.5 million single-use coffee cups.
“The cost to the environment and the massive carbon footprint of single-use plastic can’t be ignored,” she said.
“If we want to address climate change, we must change what we buy, how it’s packaged and how we recover materials.”
GISA’s 113-page Report can be downloaded at this PS News link.
