Plastic Bag Ban
The plastic bag ban commenced on 1 September 2011, following a four month phase-out period.
The ban means that Territory retailers can no longer supply lightweight, “checkout” style plastic bags, including degradable bags.
There are a range of envionmentally friendly options available from retailers, but you may be charged for them, or you can take your own bag to the shop.
Remember, please do not bag the retailers.
The following bags are not banned:
- Green bags (keep clean and re-use over 100 times);
- Biodegradable or compostable bags;
- Heavy retail bags;
- Paper bags;
- Barrier bags for fruit and vegetables.
Territorians use approximately 40 million plastic bags each year, creating ugly litter in our streets, killing wildlife, depleting natural resources and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The Environment Protection (Beverage Containers and Plastic Bags) Act 2011 was passed by the NT Legislative Assembly in February 2011.
The Plastic Bag Ban is part of the Northern Territory Climate Change Policy, and together with the Cash for Containers initiative will help meet Government’s target of reducing the amount of waste going to our rubbish dumps by 50% by 2020.
The Plastic Bag Ban is similar to the ban implemented in South Australia in 2009.
Make the change and help create a cleaner, greener Territory.
A comprehensive Retailer Information Kit is available to help retailers with compliance. Click here to access the retailer resources.