Appendix+4.2

**Plastic Bags and Marine Litter**
As environmental challenges go, climate change is without doubt the most significant issue facing our generation. But what chance do we have of getting in place solutions for this issue when it appears we can’t even tackle a very simple solution for the problem of plastic bags – banning them. Are plastic bags a problem? The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the first ever study of he impact of marine litter across the world’s oceans. The study report "Marine Litter: A Global Challenge" found that plastic, especially plastic bags and PET bottles, is the most common type of marine litter on the planet and that plastic bags alone make up almost 10% of rubbish found in seas worldwide. In a shocking illustration of the extent of damage that can be caused by rubbish dumped at sea, the report highlighted that much of the rubbish dumped off Western Australia ends up on the east coast of South Africa. Along the way animals including birds, fish and turtles mistake plastic bags for food, which can be deadly. In Australia, plastic bags threaten the survival of endangered bird and marine life. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee has listed plastic bags as a ‘Key Threatening Process’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Plastics are just like radioactive waste – they don’t go away. Plastic bags do break up but all that happens is they become smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. These microscopic pieces of plastic enter the food chain earlier as they are ingested by marine life. Plastic bags are convenient but so are the alternatives. The key issue is the habit we have formed taking our groceries home in plastic bags. There are cheap, practical alternatives already out there that won’t cost our environment, such as reusable bags made out of long lasting, washable non plastics. The steady refusal to embrace change does not come from the community; it comes from those advising our government. Numerous times the community has raised its collective hands in support of a ban. South Australia and a growing number of communities across the country have got so fed up with the lack of action that they’ve moved to introduce their own plastic bag ban. More than 4 million plastic bags are pushed out through supermarket checkouts each year. Of that number just 3% are recycled and the rest either end up in our environment or in landfill. The solution is simple and it has community support. It’s about time that government broke the habit and banned plastic bags nationwide.

Ian Kiernan AO Chairman, Clean Up Australia June 2009