2017-01-16 GC - Attachment 1 to Item 8 - Plastic Bag Discussion Paper

Types of plastic bags
There are many different types of plastic bags that have a wide range of uses. The pictures following illustrate the types of bags that will be
included in a ban and those that fall outside the scope of a ban. Each type of bag is more fully described in the Definitions section of this
discussion paper.
The Queensland Government’s ban relates to single-use lightweight shopping bags, whether made of HDPE plastic, biodegradable, or
degradable material. The ban does not cover bags without handles such as fruit and vegetable bags or barrier bags, or bags that have been
designed to be used multiple times.
The proposed complementary voluntary initiative would focus on reducing the number of single-use heavier-weight plastic department store
bags. These bags, while lower in numbers than lightweight supermarket-style bags, still form part of the litter stream which impacts on the
environment and in most cases can readily be replaced by non-plastic alternative bags.



Lightweight single-use plastic supermarket-style bags included in the ban:




              HDPE plastic bag                       Biodegradable and compostable bag                            Degradable bag



Heavier-weight plastic bags included in proposed voluntary measures:




                                       Heavier-weight (>35 micron) department store bag (LDPE plastic)




Examples of plastic bags without handles—not included in the ban:




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