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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (26 November) . . Page.. 4758 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

I think we need to endorse ambitious targets, as this government and the minister have done, but we should not do it merely in an aspirational sense. We need to seek to implement and promote strategies that achieve these targets and make them real goals and not just aspirations.

In the past the ACT has led the way on alternative bag trials but the momentum has slowed somewhat in the past two years. In 1999 a calico bag trial was launched by my colleague the former Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth, titled the "ReBaG"trial. In addition, the government has supported the reusable paper bag trial implemented by Coles supermarkets in 1998. In 1997 the ACT government supported the "Bag-a-Bargain"promotion at local shopping centres. This trial was designed to attract new customers to the centres and assist in waste reduction by promoting calico bags purchased from retailers at $2 each.

I should also mention that a private members bill presented by Ms Tucker in 1998-the Shopping Containers Bill-proposed that retail businesses in the ACT charge customers directly for any plastic shopping bags provided. This bill was defeated.

Supermarket chains like Coles and Woolworths have also done their bit to recycle plastic bags by providing bins for bags. These stores also have non-woven polypropylene green bags or calico bags which can be purchased. Coles also continues with paper bags, following its trial in Canberra. These cost 14c per bag and a rebate of 2c is given if you reuse the bag on subsequent visits.

There are approximately 18 plastic recycling points provided across the territory by Coles and Woolworths. Most of these plastic bags are taken away by the contractor Visy, which then sends them to the Amcor plastic recycling facility. Unfortunately, though, we are not recycling as much as we could. The current recycling rate for plastic bags is low, with the present tonnage at 1,000 tonnes per year out of a possible 33,000 tonnes of bags that could be recycled across Australia.

Many people may not realise what happens when a bag is recycled. It is basically rendered down and the resin left over is used to create new plastic bags or other plastic products. It is estimated that $100 million is added to the national grocery bill each year due to the cost of plastic bags and that only 33 per cent of the plastic bags used by us are produced in this country. So if we have a strategic approach to recycling we can also cut down not only our grocery costs but our cost of importing.

Mr Speaker, many other trials and initiatives to reduce plastic bags have taken place across the globe. I think we in the ACT should look at some of these and not be scared to trial them ourselves. For example, Coles Bay in the Tasmania town adjoining the Freycinet National Park has banned plastic checkout bags in all of its retail outlets. It was the first town in Australia to do so.

In June this year the Randwick Business Council announced it would become the first plastic bag-free city, ridding this eastern Sydney suburb of plastic bags by 31 December this year. Even more recently, little Mogo on the south coast also said no to plastic shopping bags and, as a result, next year one of the local stores will not be using the 15,000 plastic bags that it used last year. A number of areas have introduced alternatives.

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