Image: Garrett Coakley
The traditional plastic bag used in supermarkets has become the hot button topic for more than 23,000 persons and organisations hoping to have their say on the Queensland government’s plan to ban them from use.
In the government’s consultation process, it opened an invitation to anyone to have their say on the proposal to ban lightweight single-use plastic shopping bags across the state.
People had until 27th February to submit their case on the matter.
Minister for Environment Dr Steven Miles said the 23,000 submissions so far shows that Queenslanders are passionate about the issue of plastic bags in the environment.
“Since the discussion paper was released in November last year, we have received overwhelming support in favour of a plastic bag ban,” Dr Miles said.
He said around 900 million single-use lightweight plastic bags are used in Queensland each year and up to 16 million bags are littered – many ending up in beaches, parks and waterways.
“Plastic bags are the most conspicuous plastic litter item and take thousands of years to fully break down,” Dr Miles said.
“Research has shown that plastic pollution in coastal waterways has serious impacts on marine wildlife, such as sea turtles and sea birds, which can ingest or become entangled in the bags.”
Dr Miles said a plastic bag ban is a critical step in the Palaszczuk Government’s long term plastic pollution reduction plan.
“The ban will coincide with the introduction of the Container Refund Scheme in 2018 to reduce the impact of drink container litter on our natural environment,” he said.
‘“Lightweight plastic shopping bag bans are already in place and working well in other parts of the country including South Australia, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.
“We also want to take the next step and take a lead role in working with retailers nationally to develop voluntary initiatives to reduce the use of the thicker department store-style plastic bags.”
