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More single-use plastics banned from Saturday [1]

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Date: 2023-06-29

From Saturday, New Zealanders will no longer see plastic produce bags at the supermarket.

New measures being brought in by the Government will phase out more single-use plastics, in a bid to reduce plastic waste across the country.

"New Zealanders produce about 60 kilograms of plastic waste per person per year, so this is one of the many steps we are doing to reduce it," Associate Minister for the Environment, Rachel Brooking, said.

The single-use plastics that will be banned from July 1 include:

- plastic produce bags

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- plastic plates, bowls and cutlery

- plastic straws (other than for people living with disabilities who need them)

Plastic produce labels, like on fruit, will also be phased out and eventually replaced with compostable ones.

"I think it is pretty obvious that plastic, especially single-use plastic, is a global issue and one we support the ban of," Foodstuffs' sustainable packaging manager Debra Goulding said.

"This ban does not just involve plastic as a material, it involves products, supplies, supply chains and redesign of products, specifically forks and spoons and plates where we have had to find alternatives like bamboo or wood."

New Zealand is the first country in the world to ban single-use plastic produce bags. The move is expected to take 150 million plastic produce bags out of circulation each year.

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It comes after New Zealand already banned all plastic supermarket bags in 2019.

In 2022, the Government also introduced the first phase of the Waste Minimisation (Plastic and Related Products) Regulations 2022, which included banning plastic drink stirrers and plastic stems on cotton buds.

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[1] Url: https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/06/29/more-single-use-plastics-banned-from-saturday/

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