As of 1 November, additional single-use plastic items have been banned in New South Wales as communities and businesses embrace a massive shift away from problematic plastics.
The items included in the ban are plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, bowls and cotton buds; foodware and cups made from expanded polystyrene; and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
This comes after lightweight single-use plastic bags were banned from 1 June.
The bans have been welcomed by Aldi Australia, with the supermarket giant saying it understands the environmental impact of single-use plastics, and has taken multiple steps over the years to take responsibility for any potential impact.
“Finding sustainable alternatives for packaging has always been important to us at Aldi. With a strong focus on tackling plastics, we are supportive of the Meeting of Environment Ministers to work with the private sector to reduce waste,” Daniel Baker, corporate responsibility director at Aldi Australia, told PKN.
“We agree the business plays a critical role in developing a circular economy, and in turn, reducing plastic waste, Aldi has committed to a 25 per cent reduction of plastic packaging by 2025, and we are well on our way to achieving this.
“Aldi recognises the negative environmental impact on single-use plastics, which is precisely why we’ve never provided free-of-charge plastic carrier bags, and made the decision to remove all single-use plastic tableware from our shelves in 2020.
“We were the first major Australian supermarket to replace plastic straws with paper straws on juice boxes. The roadmap also identifies the negative impact of microbeads, which Aldi stamped out across our cosmetics, personal care, detergents and cleaning ranges in 2018.
“Preventing plastics waste from entering the Australian environment is essential, and Aldi is excited to continue stepping up and take responsibility for our impact. We welcome and encourage others in the industry to join the fight alongside us.”
James Griffin, NSW Minister for Environment, said this is is an important step to protect the environment and create a more sustainable future for generations to come.
“We’re delivering long-term change by banning some of the most littered single-use plastic items, including plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds,” said Griffin.
“We started this journey in 2020, when we received 16,000 submissions in response to the proposed plastics ban, with 98 per cent of them supporting the bans.
“NSW Parliament passed the Plastics Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021 last year, and since then, we’ve been helping the community and businesses to prepare for these changes with extensive engagement, education and communication campaigns in multiple languages.
“The feedback is clear – the community is disturbed by the amount of single-use plastic entering our environment, so we’ve listened, taken action, and today, we’re asking everyone across the state to stop it and swap it.”
Since February, the National Retail Association (NRA) has, on behalf of the NSW government, been providing education and support to more than 40,000 businesses and community organisations around the state to implement the changes.
The NSW government has partnered with Great Plastic Rescue to collect excess stock from wholesalers, distributors, retailers, businesses and not-for-profits for recycling and remanufacturing into new items.
Ongoing education and support will continue to ensure businesses and consumers understand what’s banned and what’s not, including exemptions that allow the supply of items for people with disabilities or for medical reasons.
For more information on the bans, click here.
