Media release – Rosalie Woodruff MP, Environment spokesperson, 2 June 2022
Moving Away from Single Use Plastics
Today the Greens tabled the Waste and Resource Recovery Amendment (Single-Use Plastics) Bill 2022.
This bill, if legislated will save the lives of tens of thousands, even millions of invertebrates, fish and birdlife. By extension, it will prevent the slow poisoning-by-plastic of all species throughout the food chain, including humans. It will relieve the burden on landfill, and prevent the unnecessary use of harmful resources.
Plastics are insidious to our environment, but they don’t need to be the throw away item they are today. We have to turn around our plastic problem, and for Tasmania that starts with this Bill.
The Bill will ban the sale of certain single-use plastics over one year to enable businesses to transition. It recognises the needs of critical care settings, such as in medical and dental, if sustainable options are unavailable or non-existent.
The bill will encourage manufacturers to identify innovative product designs for sustainable alternatives, and educate manufacturers and consumers alike about what products are compostable.
Innovation and education are the keys to solving this huge problem. Tasmania, through this Greens’ initiative, can be at the forefront for making the big changes we need.
You can find the bill here.
Editor’s note: The supply of single-use plastic straws, stirrers, plates, unenclosed bowls, cutlery and expanded polystyrene (EPS) takeaway food containers and EPS cups is banned in Queensland. The ban came into effect on 1 September 2021.
The ban is part of Queensland’s plan to tackle plastic pollution and follows strong support from the community, retailers and industry organisations.
This video explains about the ban.
