QLD, SA & WA to ban more plastic from 1 September to help protect marine life - Australian Marine Conservation Society
www.marineconservation.org.au
States ban microplastic sources such as cotton bud sticks and microbeads Queensland to ban balloon releases, yet NSW and ACT still allow it Tasmania is trailing all jurisdictions with no plan to ban single-use plastics Soft plastics and food & beverage packaging still a big issue, representing nearly 70% of plastic found in ocean cleanup […]

Queensland, South Australian and Western Australia are leading in the race to ban single-use plastics, introducing further bans on single-use plastic items from 1 September that will help protect our marine life, the Australian Marine Conservation said today.

All three states are banning plastic cotton bud sticks, while Queensland and WA are banning loose-fill polystyrene packing materials and microbeads found in personal care and cleaning products, which are all sources of easily digested microplastics.

Queensland will ban thick plastic shopping bags and mass balloon releases, leaving New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory the only jurisdictions permitting mass releases of balloons, which usually end up in our waterways and oceans, choking marine life and birds.

While NSW and VIC have also banned single-use plastics, they have not yet announced plans to expand their bans to include items such as thick plastic shopping bags, expanded polystyrene packaging and coffee cups containing plastic.

Additional plastic items banned from 1 September 2023.