The ban on lightweight plastic bags will officially come into force across the State from June 1 in line with the stage one of the NSW Government's single-use plastics ban.
The ban was expected to help prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment in NSW over the next 20 years.
According to Minister for Environment, James Griffin the impact of plastic pollution on the environment was a reason why this major change was being introduced.
"Single-use plastic is used by many of us for just a few convenient minutes, but it remains in our environment for many years, eventually breaking into microplastics," Mr Griffin said.
"We know that single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60 per cent of all litter in NSW.
"By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we're helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill."
Single-use plastic is used by many of us for just a few convenient minutes, but it remains in our environment for many years, eventually breaking into microplastics.
- Minister for Environment, James Griffin
In addition to the lightweight plastic bag ban, from November the government will ban
- single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds
- expanded polystyrene food ware and cups
- rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
The NSW Government passed the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021 in November, and introduced the Plastics Action Plan last year.
To ensure small businesses are ready for the changes this year, the NSW Government engaged the National Retail Association (NRA) to deliver a comprehensive education campaign to more than 40,000 businesses across NSW.
The NRA is running a retailer education campaign, conducting store visits, and providing online webinars and resources to help businesses make the transition away from problematic single-use plastics.
The NRA has launched a free hotline (1800 844 946) to offer businesses, community organisations and consumers advice on the single-use plastic bans.
For more information about the NSW plastics ban, visit http://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/plastics-ban
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