Campaign welcomes news of statewide plastic bag ban

PLASTIC Bag Free Torquay has cautiously welcomed news of a ban on single-use plastic bags in Victoria, but is awaiting more details.

Last week, the state government announced it would ban the plastic bags, following the lead of four other Australian states and the recent decision by Coles and Woolworths to phase out single use bags over the next 12 months.

However, the state government has not yet set a date and will hold talks with businesses and the community about how the ban should come into effect.

The Surf Coast has been a leader in the campaign to ban single-use plastic, with Anglesea laying claim to being the first mainland town in Australia to implement a voluntary ban on plastic bags, the Surf Coast Shire acting to reduce plastic litter and pollution through the introduction of its Plastic Wise Policy, and Plastic Bag Free campaigners from the Surf Coast such as Robert Skehan being involved in statewide advocacy.

“I met the then-Environment Minister Lisa Neville about two years ago and the then-minister told me that a ban on disposable plastic bags was not on the government’s radar,” Mr Skehan said.

“The minister suggested we needed to ‘make some noise’ and the government would listen. I guess we made some noise.”

Since that meeting, Mr Skehan said Plastic Bag Free had introduced reusable Boomerang Bags into Torquay and then into more than 80 communities across Victoria, helped the council introduce the Plastic Wise Policy, handed over a petition carrying more than 11,660 hard copy signatures to the Victoria Parliament, and helped set up numerous Plastic Bag Free and Plastic Wise community groups across the state including Plastic Bag Free Lorne and Plastic Bag Free Winchelsea.

“We are proud to be part of a huge community of concerned citizens who continued to campaign and demand our politicians take action on the issues of single-use waste and plastic,” Mr Skehan said.

“We hope that this announcement builds on the wider awareness efforts to reduce the impact of single use plastic on our beautiful coast.”