No more single-use plastic bags in shops from July 1 next year

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage discusses plans to ban single-use plastic bags. (Video first published in December 2018)

Shoppers will no longer be able to buy single use plastic bags from mid-next year.

The ban will include light-weight supermarket bags, heavier boutique-style shopping bags and the 'emergency' bags currently offered by Countdown as an alternative to a free single-use bag.

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage confirmed retailers would no longer be able to sell or give away single-use plastic shopping bags from July 1 next year, after Cabinet agreed to the proposed regulations for a mandatory nationwide phase out of these bags.

'Plastic shopping bags are a hazard for nature, particularly marine wildlife. They can also introduce harmful microplastics into the food chain,' she said.

The phase out will apply to all new plastic shopping bags with handles that are made of plastic up to 70 microns in thickness.

* Plastic bag lovers are stockpiling before they are made illegal

* Editorial: Ban on single-use plastic shopping bags worth celebrating

* New Zealand to ban single-use plastic bags**

'These regulations are an important first step to tackle New Zealand's wider waste problem. Importantly, the mandatory phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags signals that we need to do things very differently – manufacturers, retailers and consumers all have a responsibility to reduce waste and prevent plastic pollution.'

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage announced New Zealand retailers will no longer be given single-use plastic bags with their shopping from July next year.

Public consultation followed the initial announcement on the ban by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Sage in August this year.

Sage said 92 per cent of submitters supported a ban on single-use bags.

The plastic bag ban was part of a larger Government effort to reduce waste, she said.

'We have an ambitious programme under way to turn around New Zealand's poor track record on waste,' Sage said.

'This includes expanding the waste disposal levy to all landfills and improving our data on waste and resource recovery, investing more strategically in infrastructure and innovation, and a greater focus on product stewardship for problematic waste streams such as vehicle tyres and e-waste.'

A Countdown spokesperson said it would comply with the dates and regulations set out by the Government, which included phasing out the company's emergency bag option.

'We have welcomed the mandatory phase-out of single use plastic bags,' the spokesperson said.

'All 180 of our stores have been single-use plastic carrier bag free since October 15, and the response from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive. Kiwis know how important it is that we protect the environment for generations to come.'

ACT Party leader David Seymour said the plastics ban was virtue signaling by the Green Party.

Detractors of the plan have said the ban would punish consumers.

ACT leader David Seymour said the Government had no idea what effect the ban would have on the environment.

'The Government has decided to punish all New Zealanders who find single-use plastic bags convenient and dispose of them responsibly without any evidence they are a major cause of pollution,' he said.

The ban was just virtue signalling by the Green Party, Seymour said.

'It's not the bags that are harming the environment, it's the way people are using them,' he said.

'The ban is also having an economic impact. Porirua-based Kiwi Plastics is set to close its doors, putting its workers out of a job. This is terrible policy-making. It's a classic case of good intentions and unintended consequences.'