23 May 2006 - The Australian
Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator
Ian Campbell, today praised supermarket shoppers
and operators for cutting three billion plastic
bags from circulation during the past two years.
He said a report compiled by
the Australian National Retailers Association,
representing major supermarkets, showed that by
the end of last year supermarkets had reduced
their annual use of lightweight, single-use bags
by 45 per cent compared with 2002.
“This is an enormous achievement
by shoppers and supermarket management and a clear
demonstration of a behavioural change by thousands
of Australians,” Senator Campbell said.
“The cutback means fewer bags
in the litter stream. The goal must be to stop
plastic bags getting into the litter stream and
spoiling Australia’s environment.
“The initiatives introduced
by supermarkets to cut back on the number of bags
issued, the eagerness of shoppers to be part of
the campaign and the take-up of re-usable bags
have all contributed to this win for the environment.
“It is important to bear in
mind that this outstanding result came from entirely
voluntary action – no regulations, no levies or
additional costs to shoppers.
“There will be some predictable
complaints that the 50 per cent reduction goal
was missed and therefore the campaign failed.
While 50 per cent would have been better, 45 per
cent is still an outstanding result and it would
be nonsense to portray it otherwise.
“I am delighted that the major
supermarkets are committed to achieving the 50
per cent goal by the end of this year.
“I also share their view that
development of a viable degradable bag to replace
existing lightweight plastic ones is a key to
achieving further significant reductions.
“It is important that standards
for such bags are set as a matter of urgency so
that manufacturers know exactly what they are
aiming at. The Australian Government will contribute
to work that accelerates the development of viable
replacement bags,” he said.
