Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell, tabled a review of the first two years of the Plastic Shopping Bags Ban Act 2010 in the Legislative Assembly recently. The review found that ACT’s plastic shopping bags ban has resulted in a 36% decrease in the amount of plastic bags sent to landfill and is now supported by 65% of Canberra grocery shoppers.
“A review of the ban has justified the ACT government’s 2011 legislation banning the supply of single-use shopping bags made of polyethylene of 35 microns or less thickness,” Mr Corbell said.
Mr Corbell explained that a survey by Piazza Research in March 2014 of 602 people who were all the main grocery shopper in their household found 65% supported the ban, an increase of 7% over a similar survey held in September 2012, while those against the ban fell to 26% from 33%.
Mr Corbell explained that an analysis of shopping bag use by Canberra shoppers during six months from May to October 2013 has also shown significant benefits to the environment.
“Using information from major retailers in the territory, we estimated 171 tonnes of plastic bags were sent to landfill, a 36% decrease on the 266 tonnes sent to landfill in the six months prior to the ban.” Mr Corbell commented.
In response to the review ACT Greens Member for Molonglo, Shane Rattenbury, is calling for a national ban on plastic bags and a change to the ACT plastic bag legislation to ensure all bags used in Canberra are compostable. “We need to improve the legislation to ensure that only fully compostable plastic bags or reusable bags are allowed in the ACT,” said Mr Rattenbury. “As a result of the current legislation there has been a significant reduction in plastic bag litter across the ACT, but one of the problems is that people have shifted to using thicker plastic bags – both for shopping and for bin liners.” Mr Rattenbury added.
Mr Rattenbury pointed out that the ACT Greens have long called for a national ban on plastic bags, and, since the ban was introduced in the ACT following the 2008 Labor-Greens Parliamentary Agreement, four jurisdictions across Australia have introduced lightweight plastic bag bans.