EU Parliament moves to ban single-use plastics by 2021, is Australia ready?

The European Parliament has voted in favour of an extensive ban on single-use plastic polluting Europe’s beaches and waterways by 2021.

The proposed ban targets the top 10 single-use plastics, such as straws, cutlery, plates and cotton buds.

I think the debate is going up a notch in Australia. There’s no doubt there will come to Australia – Neil Mitchell

Craig Reucassel, known as one of the founding members of The Chaser Boys, now hosts the ABC’s War on Waste and has become an activist in the field.

He said there’s a lot of talk in Australia around making packaging recyclable or compostable.

“What we don’t tend to do in Australia is then put in place the actual requirements, some kind of mandatory requirement to get there,” he told Neil.

“It tends to be left a little bit to the wind to sort it out.

“The current approach is definitely not one of making a rule such as this.”

He said governments needed to show leadership in the area.

“Where there are alternatives and where you can get rid of things, yeah we should definitely try and reduce it, because it has a massive impact, particularly on marine life,” Reucassel said.

“It would happen a lot quicker, and there would be a lot more impetus behind it if there was a mandatory requirement.”

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