FAQs

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
• 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

Exemptions will be in place for the following for Australian Standard Certified Compostable items: 

• Plastic barrier bags
• Plastic Shopping Bags
• Plastic cups
• Plastic food containers (including bowls with lids, trays with lids and other food containers with lids)

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)

Australian Standard (AS) Certified compostable products are made of materials that do not leave behind any toxic material, breaking down readily in a commercial composting system. This can include items that look similar to plastic such as bowls, cups and bags. These products should state that they are ‘certified compostable’ and include one of the following logos. Australia has 2 of the highest standards in the world when it comes to certification.

AS 4736:2006 Biodegradable plastics suitable for industrial/compostable composting and other microbial treatment – this certifies the material can be composted through a commercial composting facility. In the majority of South Australian council areas, in workplace and school organics collections and at public events this means it can go into the green lidded organics bin.

AS 5810:2010 Biodegradable plastics suitable for home or commercial/industrial composting – this certifies that the material can be composted in your home compost bin. It is also suitable to go into a green lidded organics bin.

Commercial/industrial composting facilities generate much more heat than a home compost bin and use oxygen and water to break down materials into compost. Both AS 4736:2006 and AS 5810:2010 certified compostable products can be processed at commercial composting facilities in South Australia.

As home composting facilities do not reach the same high temperatures that are reached at commercial composting facilities, only AS 5810:2010 certified compostable products are suited to home compost systems.

While there are other composability certifications, including from the USA and Europe, these standards are not the same as AS 4736:2006 and AS 5810:2010 which include an additional requirement of a worm toxicity test. This additional testing component is to ensure that AS certified compostable items in the compost has no toxic effect on plants and earthworms.

In July 2022, the South Australian Civil Liability Act 1936 was changed to remove liability from food businesses such as cafés, restaurants and supermarkets when packaging and selling food to a customer in their own container. This immunity extends to all employees selling the food.

This change to the legislation has been implemented to encourage the increased acceptance and usage of reusable (BYO) containers in South Australia.

For more information, read the guideline on food and beverage containers or visit the SA Health website.

The current Act and Regulations are both available online:

• Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020
• Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Regulations 2021

For a summary of the adverse impacts of single-use and other plastic products, including those to be banned in 2024 and 2025, see the Turning the tide: the future of single-use plastic in South Australia (2021) discussion paper.

The Replace the Waste website includes examples of identified, compliant alternatives for the wide range of single-use and other plastic products being banned in 2024 and 2025.

Plastic is ‘a material made from, or comprising, organic polymers, whether plant extracts* or of fossil fuel origin’.

*Other terms for plant extracts include ‘bioplastic’ and ‘bio-based’. AS certified compostable plastic products are considered to contain plant extracts and are therefore prohibited under South Australia’s Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020 and Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Regulations 2021, unless exemptions apply to the specific product.

The definition also captures other waterproofing technologies, including aqueous coating or dispersion, which apply a waterproofing polymer to a product in place of a plastic or bioplastic lining. Aqueous and similar applied linings are also prohibited, unless exemptions apply to the specific product.

For more information, read the guideline on food and beverage containers.

The ban on single-use plastic food containers will be limited to plastic food containers, including plastic-lined or aqueous coated containers, used for takeaway food prepared for sale and consumption on the same day, for example takeaway food containers, single-use plastic bowls with plastic lids, single-use plastic trays with plastic lids, single-use plastic cups with plastic lids used for food.

The following alternative takeaway food containers will be permitted:

• Takeaway food containers and their lids made entirely from clear or opaque bioplastic that is Australian Standard (AS) certified industrial or home compostable (AS 4736:2006 or AS 5810:2010) and labelled with details of certification.
• Takeaway food containers and their lids made from other non-plastic materials but lined with bioplastic or coated aqueously with a waterproofing polymer where the product is certified industrial or home compostable (AS 4736:2006 or AS 5810:2010) and labelled with details of certification.

The focus is on containers used for ready-to-eat food which is being sold to take away from the business and to be consumed shortly after purchase. Food containers used under these circumstances are likely to be used only for a short period of time before being discarded. The regulations are designed to ensure that the food container, its lid and any remaining food or food residue can be disposed directly into green organics bins domestically and, where provided, in workplaces, schools, at events or in public places in South Australia.

For more information, read the guideline on food and beverage containers.