About the plastics bans

A range of single-use problematic plastics is now banned in NSW.

The plastics bans will prevent nearly 2.7 billion plastic items from entering the state’s coastal, marine and bushland environments over the next 20 years.

The NSW Plastics Action Plan was released in June 2021. It highlights the phase-out of certain single-use plastics as a key action, with a timetable for phasing out the most littered plastic items. The Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021 (PRCE Act) was made in November 2021 to enable this to occur.

The legislation also provides a comprehensive framework that helps NSW transition towards a circular economy where materials and resources are valued and kept in the productive economy while creating jobs and protecting the environment and the community.

Why single-use plastics are being banned

Plastic is a useful invention. It doesn’t break like glass, it’s much lighter and less expensive to manufacture than alternatives, and it can made into a seemingly endless array of shapes and sizes. Single-use plastic items, designed to be used once and then thrown away, are cheap and convenient, but they pose an enormous threat to our environment. They take thousands of years to decompose and in the process cause great harm to our natural environment and wildlife.

Consumers do a very good job when it comes to sorting recyclable plastics from waste destined for landfill. However in NSW:

• only 15.6% of plastics are being recycled
• plastic items make up 74% of all litter in NSW urban estuaries.

The solution to this problem is to use less plastic.

Key facts about the NSW Government single-use plastics ban

• We've exceeded the target (of reducing plastic litter items by 30% by 2025) with a reduction of 45% compared to baseline years and are now looking towards a target of 60% reduction in all litter items by 2030.
• Lightweight plastic shopping bags with handles (35 microns or less in thickness) have been banned in NSW since 1 June 2022.
• Bans apply in NSW to single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls (without lids) and cotton buds, expanded polystyrene foodware and cups, and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.
• The bans apply even if the banned items are made from biodegradable plastic, compostable plastic, or bio-plastics.
• In NSW, single-use plastic items and packaging make up 74% of all litter in NSW waterways.
• The litter density of banned lightweight plastic shopping bags, plastic plates and cutlery, plastic straws and foam takeaway packaging has declined since the bans, representing 15% of all litter density in 2018–19, 9% of litter in 2022–23 just following the bans, and 5% of litter now in 2024–25.
• Over time, these items break into smaller pieces of plastic. They can be ingested by wildlife, killing or injuring them, and can enter the human food chain.
• Plastics never completely degrade. Over years, they break into tiny pieces called microplastics. Microplastics are the multi-coloured pieces of plastic that can be found in the environment.