Proposed Single-use and Other Plastic Products Amendment Regulations – 2024 and 2025 items

We want your feedback on the proposed regulations to ban additional single-use and other plastic products from 1 September 2024.

What's being decided?

We are committed to phasing out additional single-use and other plastic products over a 3-year period. The first stage of these bans commenced on 1 September 2023.

We are now seeking feedback on the draft regulations to implement the 2 remaining stages of these bans from 1 September 2024 and 1 September 2025 respectively, including the proposed exemptions.

We want to hear your feedback on:

• definitions of the banned products and the proposed exemptions
• implementation timeframes for Australian Standard certified compostable cups and food containers
• any potential unintended consequences from the draft regulations (for example, the banning of a plastic product giving rise to the use of other non-banned plastic products).

Background

In early 2022, South Australians were asked to provide feedback on Turning the Tide on Single-use Plastic 2021. Based on this feedback, the Deputy Premier Hon Susan Close MP announced South Australia’s staged next steps for banning single-use and other plastic products over the next 3 years.

On 1 September 2023, plastic pizza savers, plastic-stemmed cotton buds, single-use plastic bowls without lids for food and beverages, and single-use plastic plates for food were banned.

To put the remaining bans in place, a variation to the regulations under section 6(1)(h) of the Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020 is required to prescribe additional prohibited plastic items.

From 1 September 2024 the following products will be banned:

• Thick plastic/boutique plastic shopping bags and plastic-laminated paper shopping bags
• Plastic barrier bags for perishable goods
• Plastic bread tags
• Single-use plastic hot and cold beverage cups and single-use plastic lids
• Single-use plastic food containers, including bowls with lids
• Expanded polystyrene (EPS) trays
• Other expanded polystyrene (EPS) food and beverage containers
• Plastic confetti
• Plastic balloon sticks and ties

From 1 September 2025 the following products will be banned:

• Plastic produce stickers
• Plastic soy sauce fish
• Attached straws and cutlery
• Pre-packaged EPS containers (e.g. noodles)

Get involved

Find out more by:

• reading the Single Use Plastic Act and Single Use Plastic regulations to understand what is being amended
• reading the draft amendment regulations
• reading the guidelines which outline how the bans will work for each product:
  1. Plastic food and beverage containers and other EPS products
  2. Plastic shopping bags, plastic barrier bags and bread tags
  3. Plastic confetti, plastic balloon sticks and ties
  4. Plastic produce stickers, plastic soy sauce fish, attached cutlery and EPS integrated packaging
     For translations of these guidelines, please visit the Replace the Waste website and use the translation function.
• reading the FAQs

Have your say by:

• providing your feedback via the survey
• emailing a written submission to GISA.sup@sa.gov.au
• posting a written submission to:
  Single-use Plastic Regulations Consultation
  Green Industries SA
  PO Box 1047
  ADELAIDE SA 5001

Please be aware that, unless you make a request for confidentiality, we may refer to publicly or publish the information contained in any submission.

Any material identified as ‘confidential’ is still subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act) and while we will make efforts to keep the material confidential, in some circumstances we may disclose it under that Act. Where disclosure of information may identify you, we will attempt to consult with you under the FOI Act before disclosing the documents.

What are the next steps?

Green Industries SA will review and collate the feedback which will inform any changes that need to be made to the draft regulations. We will publish a summary of the feedback on this site.

We will notify via email the outcomes of the consultation process to individuals and organisations who provide a formal submission on the draft regulations.

We will submit the revised draft regulations for approval prior to being gazetted, with a view to the regulations for 2024 bans coming into effect on 1 September 2024. While the regulations for the 2025 bans will be gazetted at the same time, they will not come into effect until 1 September 2025.