Reducing Single-use & Soft Plastics
Wednesday 5 February 2025
Second Reading Debate - Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Repeal Bill 2024
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (16:52): I rise today in support of the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Repeal Bill 2024 which seeks to repeal the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008 and the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Regulations 2022. South Australia led the nation to phase out lightweight plastic shopping bags from May 2009 after the Rann Labor government passed the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008, more commonly referred to as the plastic bags act. It is estimated that this legislation has saved 400 million plastic bags every year in South Australia alone.
In 2010, I spent a few weeks in Tasmania for work. When I packed my suitcase, I threw my clothes in, some cleanser, maybe a little bit of mascara—maybe—and I actually made sure I packed a few reusable shopping bags. I knew I could get disposable bags in shops there but I did not want to. When my Tasmanian colleagues found out that I had packed my own shopping bags, they thought it was weird and funny but it had just become more normal to me than even taking a shopping list to the supermarket.
I will admit that, even though I have some bags at home, in my car and, of course, in my office—feel free to drop by and grab one: a Nadia Clancy MP reusable shopping bag—every now and then I do get to the cashier with more items than I had planned on purchasing, maybe because I do not take a shopping list, but on those occasions you will see me walking out of the supermarket with an armful of groceries precariously piled on top of each other because I just will not get another bag.
Now, almost 16 years after the ban came into place, another Labor state government continues to extend prohibitions on plastic shopping bags and other single-use plastics. Today, we use the more modern and broadly scoped Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020, more commonly referred to as the single-use plastics act. The newer act strengthens our efforts to remove plastic shopping bags of any thickness from circulation in our state by broadening the scope of prohibited plastic shopping bags. This includes bags that were already banned under the previous plastic bags act. As such, today's bill simply moves to repeal the redundant pre-existing legislation and regulations, which are no longer required in this space.
I am incredibly proud to be part of a state government that is steadfast in our efforts to protect our natural environment, waterways and beaches. South Australians are rightfully immensely proud of our state's national and often international leadership in environmental protection and climate change mitigation. Typically only used for a matter of seconds, single-use plastics last many, many lifetimes in our natural environment. Phasing out their use is an important way to reduce pollution and carbon emissions while protecting marine life.
Our government has set an ambitious timetable to ban single-use plastics in line with expectation following the successful bans of single-use straws, cutlery and stirrers put forward by the previous state government. We have brought forward plans to decrease the amount of single-use plastics in line with people's expectations, who reasonably demand more than what had been planned by those opposite. Community consultation undertaken in 2022 showed that South Australians wanted urgent action to ban a range of items. Of the more than 3,000 people who participated in Green Industries SA's public consultation report, 97 per cent of respondents said they wanted more action on single-use items like plastic bags and takeaway coffee cups.
In 2023, we banned plastic-stemmed cotton buds, plastic pizza savers—it took me far too long to realise what they were and their purpose—and single-use plastic plates and bowls. The latest round of banned items as of September last year included plastic barrier bags, thick supermarket and boutique-style plastic bags, expanded polystyrene consumer food and beverage containers, plastic confetti and plastic balloon sticks or ties, plastic food bag tags and single-use plastic food and beverage containers, including coffee cups.
Further phasing out of single-use plastics in September this year will include plastic fruit stickers, thank goodness, and plastic soy sauce fish containers—yes! Members of my community have been incredibly supportive of our improved timeline for the phasing out of single-use plastics, with a number of local businesses already jumping on board and changing their practices ahead of time.
One such business is the lovely Pantry on Egmont, technically located in Hawthorn but mere metres from the boundary of my electorate. The Pantry is enjoyed by so many in Westbourne Park and Colonel Light Gardens as well as residents from other nearby suburbs who adore this community-orientated cafe. The Pantry on Egmont is a business member of Plastic Free SA, a pilot program that works directly with food retailers across Adelaide to assist them to switch from single-use plastics to better alternatives.
Like single-use plastics, my community is also gravely concerned about the impact soft plastics are having on our environment, particularly since the collapse of REDcycle. That is why I and thousands of South Australians were so excited when the federal Minister for the Environment and Water, the honourable and excellent Tanya Plibersek MP, announced that the Albanese Labor government would be investing $20 million in advanced recycling technology.
In a partnership with our own state government, Recycling Plastics Australia in Kilburn have been tasked with cleaning and purifying soft plastics to create feedstock for new soft plastic packaging. This project will create 45 jobs and help Australia to develop an advanced recycling supply chain that will turn soft plastic waste back into packaging. Once up and running, this project will divert more than 14,000 tonnes of soft plastics from South Australian landfills each and every year.
While the bill before us today is really only a simple mechanism to repeal legislation that is surplus to requirements, it is important that our laws are consistent and promote activity that protects our environment and waterways, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the great work that has been done by this and previous Labor governments. I commend this bill to the house.
