Australian bag phase-out
Posted: 17.04.09 | Created by: Do Something
Government: SA setting the bar
South Australia set the date 4 May 2009 to ban the giving away or selling of single-use polyetheylene plastic bags. All types of retail outlets are affected by this ban.
In other Australian states, governments are also working towards a phase-out or reduction in plastic bag use. Yet none have so far committed to the kind of ban adopted by South Australia. They need to.
For too long Environment Ministers at a State and Federal level have talked about phasing plastic bags. They have talked about their concern and how plastic bags impact on wildlife. But the promises and election pledges to nationally phase out plastic bags by the end of 2008 were not kept. Unfortunately too little has been done at a practical level to formally get rid of the problem once and for all.
Shoppers in Victorian centres Warrnambool, Wangaratta and the Fountain Gate area dramatically cut plastic bag use by 79% during a 2008 trial by the Victorian Government. Further trials in Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are planned. But trials are just another way of delaying what we already know. Isn't it time that your state government did more?
Advantages for business
Over the past five years in Australia, there have been some tremendous success stories in reducing the environmental impact of plastic bags.
As these examples show, some retailers have implemented creative solutions to the plastic bag problem. For example, Bunnings reduced their usage of plastic bags by over 99% by introducing a charity charge of 10 cents per plastic bag. Their scheme went so well that they got rid of plastic bags altogether. IKEA took the same approach – like Bunnings, it started giving the bag charge to charity. IKEA has also now banned the usage of single-use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bags in its stores.
The ALDI supermarket chain has more than 150 supermarkets Australia-wide and also charge for plastic bags. This saves ALDI passing on the cost of ‘free’ plastic bags to consumers in the form of increased grocery prices. As a result, their customers save money by bringing their reusable bags when they shop.
McDonald's only give out paper bags. Other restaurants like Nando's have banned plastic bags.
Coles Bay retailers banned plastic bags at the checkout more than five years ago. Many retailers of all different types have gone plastic bag free in South Australia without any impact whatsoever on their trading activities.
These many examples show that there's no reason to hold back on a ban at a national level.
Individual-lead campaigns
Australian towns like Coles Bay in Tasmania and Huskisson in New South Wales have long shown that resident-lead community-wide bans on plastic check-out bags can work without detriment to local retailers or customers.
Coles Bay is one of Tasmania’s most popular tourist destinations, welcoming over 100,000 visitors a year. In 2002, after a discussion with Do Something founder Jon Dee, town baker Ben Kearney started lobbying local businesses to ban plastic bags at the check-out. Just after ANZAC Day in 2003, Coles Bay became Australia’s first plastic bag free town.
For more information about the Coles Bay campaign, click here. In November 2003, Huskisson on the NSW South Coast followed the Coles Bay example, running a successful campaign supported by business and council to ban plastic bags in the check-out. Again it was a local resident, Matt Cross, who initiated the effort and secured Huskisson the title of Australia’s first mainland coastal plastic bag free town.
Return to the home page.