All retailers are no longer permitted to supply shoppers, in-store or online, with single-use lightweight plastic shopping bags under 35 microns, for free or at a charge. This includes compostable, degradable and biodegradable plastic shopping bags.
Supermarkets, greengrocers, bakeries, chemists, restaurants and clothes stores, as well as market-stall holders and organisations which supply plastic shopping bags, are included in the ban.
Under the ban, shopping bags made from plastic film need to meet these material and reusability requirements:
- 35 microns or more in thickness
- be made from a minimum of 80% recycled content verified by a recognised program or certification
- be durable and big enough to carry 10 kilograms of weight for at least 125 uses verified by a recognised reusability, durability or endurance test.
Compostable plastic shopping bags are allowed if they are:
- wholly made from compostable plastic which has achieved Australian composting certification (either AS5810 or AS4736)
- 35 microns or more in thickness
- durable and big enough to carry 10 kilograms of weight for at least 125 uses verified by a recognised reusability, durability or endurance test.
