So we ban the free ones, which I use to put my rubbish in, so I'll have to buy rubbish bags instead, how will that reduce plastic bag use?
Saturday June 2, 04:19 PM War declared on plastic bags
State and territory governments will work together to eliminate one-use plastic shopping bags, says ACT Environment Minister Jon Stanhope.
The announcement followed a meeting between state and territory environment ministers in Cairns on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT
Mr Stanhope said an inter-jurisdictional working party has been set up to get rid of plastic bags because the voluntary industry-led scheme was not progressing fast enough.
The working party, due to report in November, will look at options open to the states and territories to phase them out.
"It is disappointing that yet again the states and territories have had to take matters into their own hands on an environmental and resource efficiency issue that could have benefited from Commonwealth leadership, Mr Stanhope said in a statement.
"We saw this on carbon trading and now we see it on the issue of plastic bags.
"Industry has unfortunately failed to meet it's own self-imposed targets for reduction, so governments have no alternative but to pursue other methods."
Mr Stanhope said the working party will examine an outright ban as well as mechanisms like forcing retailers to charge for bags.
"The hope is that a more effective scheme of one kind or another will be in place by the beginning of 2009," he said.
Mr Stanhope said although there was dispute over the extent of the environmental impact of plastic bags, reducing their use would be symbolic and practical.
"We can argue about how many tonnes of landfill are accounted for by plastic bags, or how many seals and dolphins suffer a slow and painful death after ingesting bags, but we cannot avoid the conclusion that if we want to live in a society that generates as little waste as possible, we must act in areas where we are able to act," he said.
"I believe that plastic bags are a product of our consumerist society that we can well do without, particularly since they are produced using scarce fossil fuels."
Mr Stanhope said since 2002, Australians have reduced their use of plastic shopping bags from almost seven billion to about 4.5 billion, but industry codes of practice, which aimed for a 50 per cent reduction, had not been met.
