'Like a scene from Utopia': how NSW botched plastic bag ban


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As of Sunday, NSW has the dubious distinction of being the only state in the nation not to have in train a ban on single-use thin plastic bags – a stance more to do with party politics than logic or science.


Three Coalition environment ministers – Rob Stokes, Mark Speakman and Gabrielle Upton – all actively sought a ban, only to be stymied by ill-timing in the case of the first two, and intransigence in the case of the third, insiders say.


Australia consumes at least 9 billion single-use plastic bags a year but the tide is turning.

Australia consumes at least 9 billion single-use plastic bags a year but the tide is turning.


Photo: Wolter Peeters

Agencies led by the NSW Environment Protection Authority did all the regulatory preparation for a phase-out, only to have then premier Mike Baird declare a “ban on bans” in late 2016 after a humiliating reversal on his government’s plan to end the greyhound racing industry in the state.


As of today, Queensland and Western Australia join the other states and territories in banning bags, nine years after South Australia first curbed them.


Victoria sifted through more than 8000 submissions from the public – the most received for any environmental issue, with 96 per cent in favour of a ban. Last week, the Andrews government announced a ban on single-use plastic bags by late 2019, leaving NSW as the lone hold-out.


Article source: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/science-a-strange-omission-from-ramsay-centre-s-study-of-the-west-20180625-p4znix.html?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

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