FROM July next year, businesses will be banned from selling and supplying single-use plastic cutlery, stirrers and polystyrene food and beverage containers under a draft bill tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly today (August 13). 

Under the “Plastic Reduction Bill 2020″, the ACT government will begin implementing the phase out of certain single-use plastic, recognising that an immediate phasing out single-use plastics could present difficulties to businesses who have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waste Reduction Minister Chris Steel says the bill will also see the ACT become the first jurisdiction to declare public events single-use plastic free.

In 2022 ACT Labor will seek to expand the phase out to include items such as plastic fruit and vegetable barrier bags and oxo-degradable plastic products which are conventional plastics that include additives to accelerate the fragmentation of the material.

“Plastic straws will also be phased-out in 2022, however, we will continue to work with key stakeholders in the health and disability communities to implement the ban and ensure they remain available to those who need them,” Mr Steel says.

For further information on the ACT’s phase out of single-use plastics, or to view and comment on the exposure draft of the “Plastic Reduction Bill 2020” visit yoursay.act.gov.au