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

Amount of plastic bag litter                                                 Plastic bags and consumer behaviour
By volume, plastic bags contribute around 3.5% of the total of               In 2002 a Nolan ITU Report Plastic Shopping Bags: Analysis of Levies
plastic litter. According to Clean Up Australia reports, plastic has         and Environmental Impacts stated:
remained the most common category of rubbish picked up on Clean
Up Australia Day over the past 20 years. In 2009, it made up 29%                 ‘The production of 6.9 billion plastic shopping bags
of all rubbish found. Of the plastic rubbish found, plastic bags                 consumes approximately 36,850 tonnes of plastic,
accounted for 17.6% with an average of 40 plastic bags found at
each Clean Up site, totalling 500,000 bags every year.
                                                                                 or 2% of total plastics produced in Australia each
                                                                                 year. This is a small percentage of the total amount of
Lightweight single-use plastic bags make up the largest proportion
of littered plastic bags. Although bags are small in volume, they
                                                                                 packaging consumed in Australia each year, which is
rate highly in terms of overall impact. Evidence from littering and              estimated to be around 3 million tonnes. It has been
behaviour surveys also suggests that people will litter more in                  estimated that plastic shopping bags make up 2%
places where litter is already visible, as they view that area as                of all items in the litter stream, however, they pose
already degraded. This means that the presence of plastic bag litter             real ecological impacts and hazards and as such
can also exacerbate the litter problem.
                                                                                 need to be effectively addressed along with other
Marine debris surveys along the Queensland coast between 2011                    components of the litter stream.’
and 2015 resulted in an average of 12 to 24 bags per site, with a
maximum of over 640 items at one location.                                   Six billion of the estimated 6.9 billion bags were lightweight plastic
While lightweight plastic bags make up the largest proportion of             shopping bags. The report went on to identify that:
plastic bags in the litter stream this is most likely due to the fact that
lightweight plastic use is far greater than heavier-weight department            ‘Plastic bag litter is not actually coming from the
store bag use.                                                                   supermarket retail sector but predominately from
Not all litter is deliberate. An estimated 47% of wind-borne litter              away-from-home destinations and retail such as
escaping from landfills is plastic with the majority of this being               convenience stores and takeaway food outlets.
plastic bags.                                                                    While these bags make up a relatively small number
                                                                                 in plastic bag consumption, they contribute a
Persistence and ‘biodegradable’ plastics                                         relatively high number to the litter issue. These
                                                                                 outlet operators did not by and large participate in
While plastic bags are only part of the total litter stream they have
the potential to significantly add to the plastic load already present.          or support the ARA Code.’
This is due to the persistent nature of plastics and the fact they can       A 2014 CSIRO report Understanding the effects of marine debris on
fragment, with subsequent potential to significantly harm marine life.       wildlife identified general consumer behaviour and illegal dumping
All existing plastic bag legislation in Australia exempts                    as the main factors contributing to the release of plastic litter into the
biodegradable bags from the ban where they meet the Australian               ocean. The report also suggested that local education campaigns may
Standard for compostability. However, while there has been                   help to reduce the amount of plastic debris found in coastal areas.
considerable research into biodegradable plastics studies have               Data on the number of plastic bags used in Australia is difficult to
shown there is no significant difference between standard and                obtain. In 2002, an estimated 6.9 billion plastic bags were used in
‘biodegradable’ plastics in the way these plastics behave when               Australia each year. Six billion of these were lightweight bags with
ingested. These studies suggest that biodegradable plastics                  the remainder being heavier-weight, department store bags. Plastic
bags do not break down any faster when ingested than a ‘normal’              bags are Australia’s highest volume of add-on packaging and the
petrochemical plastic bag.                                                   use of plastic bags has become habitual.
For food scrap recycling purposes, compostable biodegradable bags            The service life of the single-use plastic bag is relatively short.
are becoming increasingly useful. However, as shopping bag, single-          The majority of lightweight bags are reused as bin liners or as
use biodegradable bags and oxo-degradable plastic bags are not               secondary wrapping/carry bags for other items. Most of these bags
considered to be a suitable substitute for conventional HDPE plastic         will ultimately end up in landfill where they present a problem both
bags. Oxo-degradable bags in particular fragment into small plastic          as a wasted resource and as a potential litter management issue.
pieces or powder residue, adding more plastic load to the environment.       Each year more than three billion bags—or around 20,000 tonnes of
                                                                             plastic (or equivalent to 12 family cars)—are disposed of in landfills
                                                                             throughout Australia.
                                                                             Supplying plastic bags costs Australian retailers millions of dollars
                                                                             annually. This price is built into product costs, however, plastic bags
                                                                             are perceived by customers to be ‘free of charge’. This cost applies to
                                                                             all consumers regardless of whether they bring reusable bags or not.
                                                                             The cost to government, principally local governments and transport
                                                                             departments, of cleaning up plastic bags and other types of litter is
                                                                             borne by the community through rates and taxes, but is not a visible
                                                                             cost to consumers.

                                                                             Replacing HDPE plastic bags with biodegradable bags may also send
                                                                             the wrong message to the consumer. If people believe that the bags
                                                                             will biodegrade quickly then it may not be seen as that much of a
                                                                             problem if it is littered.



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