2008 may be the beginning of the end for thin, plastic shopping bags.
Just two days after China announced it will ban the manufacture and distribution of of the bags, Australia made the commitment as well on Thursday. Environmental Minister Peter Garret said he wants a phase out to begin by the end of the year.
"There are some 4 billion of these plastic bags floating around the place, getting into landfill, ending up affecting our wildlife, and showing up on our beaches while we are on holidays," Garrett said.
Garrett did not say exactly what type of policy would be put in place, but announced that he will meet with the leaders of Australia’s six states and two territories in April to discuss the issue.
Garrett did say did say he personally does not favor a levy, because he said it punishes shoppers.
Countries like Ireland and South Africa have experimented with levies to discourage the use of plastic bags, which are slow to biodegrade, pose a threat to wildlife, contaminate water and soil, and require millions of barrels of oil to produce.
"It has always been the policy of Labor to look at a total ban in 2008 and that is what minister Garrett is doing and we totally support that," said Clean Up Australia chairman Ian Kiernan. "But we are not in favour of a levy."
"We know that with the Irish example there was a dramatic reduction in the acceptance of plastic bags with the levy but that started to creep back and it has not proved to be effective in the long term," Kiernan said.
New York City Joins the Push
New York City, which uses an estimate 1 billion plastic bags a year, is also addressing the issue.
Wednesday the city’s council passed a bill requiring large stores to set up recycling programs for the bags. Stores of at least 5,000 square feet must make recycled bags available and use bags printed with a pro-recycling message, according to the new bill.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said costs to businesses would be "insignificant" in part because stores can sell bags to recycling businesses, which pay as much as US$100 per ton of plastic bags, and turn them into new products like plastic furniture.
The bill is likely to be approved by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has become known for his national leadership on addressing greenhouse gas emissions.
Last year San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags from large supermarkets.
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