Plastic cotton buds are out, but balloons are still allowed, and plastic straws are banned, unless they're attached to a juice box.
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You can't buy plastic bowls and plates in NSW anymore, unless they've got a lid.
Polystyrene cups are also gone, but plastic ones are still able to be sold.
And plastic bags remain banned - as they have been since June - unless they're made of thicker material or classed as "barrier" or "produce" bags.
From November 1, the NSW Government has banned a number of single-use plastic items, which it says make up 60 per cent of all litter in the state.
What is banned?
The new ban covers six plastic items - plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds - as well as foodware and cups made from expanded polystyrene and rinse-off personal care products, like face wash, containing plastic microbeads.
The ban applies whether the items are being sold or given away for free, and applies to 'traditional' plastic, as well as any biodegradable, compostable, or bioplastics alternatives.
This is because most items made from compostable plastic and bioplastic do not biodegrade unless they are specifically treated in a commercial composting facility, which means they don't biodegrade when littered or sent to landfill.
What plastic items are still allowed?
People who need single use straws for disability or medical reasons will still be able to buy them.
And there is also a medical exemption for the supply of single-use plastic cotton buds and bowls for medical, scientific and forensic purposes in certain circumstances where there is no suitable alternative.
This includes in a hospital where a sterile bowl is needed in a surgical setting for infection control purposes, or when using plastic single-use cotton buds or swabs for taking samples for a pathology test, or at a crime scene for forensic analysis.
The general public can also still buy cotton buds as part of a first aid kit or a kit used for medical, scientific or forensic testing.
Additionally, the ban on single-use plastic items does not apply to:
- serving utensils such as salad servers or tongs
- coffee cups
- plastic cups
- items that are an integrated part of the packaging used to seal or contain food or beverages, or are included within or attached to that packaging, through an automated process (such as a straw attached to a juice box)
- single-use plastic bowls designed or intended to have a spill-proof lid, such as those used for a takeaway soup
- expanded polystyrene (EPS) meat or produce trays
- expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging, including consumer and business-to-business packaging and transport containers
- expanded polystyrene (EPS) items that are an integrated part of the packaging used to seal or contain food or beverages, or are including within or attached to that packaging, through an automated process (such as an EPS noodle cup).
The government says it has committed to review further items in 2024 to determine whether phasing out is appropriate at that time.
What happens if you break the ban?
The NSW EPA is in charge of enforcing the regulations, but says it will focus on "education and awareness" to ensure businesses and the community are aware of the bans and able to comply.
"The EPA is committed to a fair and considered approach to regulation and will consider all circumstances before taking any action," the government says.
However, if these tools don't work, the EPA can use financial penalties against people or businesses, that go up to $55,000 for individuals or $275,000 for corporations who fail to comply with the laws.
On-the-spot fines of up to $1100 for individual businesses and $5500 for corporations can also be issued to those who continue to supply banned plastic items.
However, an individual cannot be fined for using a banned single use plastic item and the obligation to stop supplying banned plastic items only applies where the banned items are supplied in a business or retail setting, or in undertaking activities in the community such as events.
How will the ban help?
The NSW Government says around 575 million plastic items were littered in NSW in 2019, with the majority of these single-use items, like plastic bags, straws and cutlery.
Over time, these items break into smaller pieces and can be ingested by wildlife - killing or injuring them - and can also enter the human food chain.
Plastics never completely degrade but break into tiny pieces called microplastics, which have been found in the human bloodstream, and recently in breastmilk.
The government says the phase out of single-use plastic items will help prevent an estimated 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering our natural environment and waterways over the next 20 years.
The items selected to be banned are littered at approximately 20 times the rate of other plastics, with about 40 per cent of these littered items ending up in marine environments and waterways.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has commended the ban, but says more needs to be done to get rid of plastic pollution.
AMCS plastics campaign manager Shane Cucow said the ban was "a huge win for our dolphins, whales and seabirds, and all Australians who love our ocean"s.
"As the state with the largest plastic footprint, NSW is pivotal to ending ocean plastic pollution," he said.
"Plastics such as shopping bags, disposable cutlery and straws are some of the most commonly found plastics along our coasts and in our oceans. Today's ban is projected to stop up to 2.7 billion plastic items from entering our natural environment over the next 20 years, according to government figures."
Mr Cucow said it was important the laws were expanded to include other "lethal" plastics, like balloons.
"NSW and the ACT are the only jurisdictions with laws that explicitly allow the reckless practice of releasing balloons into the sky," Mr Cucow said.
"Balloons are the biggest plastic killer of seabirds, 32 times more likely to kill birds than hard plastic waste. It's time to end this dangerous practice once and for all."
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
