World Environment Day 2023 is a reminder that people's actions on plastic pollution matters.
Shadow Minister for the Environment Kellie Sloane says it's up to each and every one of us to play our part, and is urging people to go plastics-free for World Environment Day today – and to kick start some new habits to protect our planet.
Under the former Coalition Government single use plastics such as lightweight plastic bags were initially banned, followed by single-use plastic straws, stirrers, polystyrene cups.
Ms Sloane has called on the Labor Government to work with industry to find sustainable alternatives to other single use plastics items that remain on our supermarket shelves, such as single use plastic bowls and cups with lids, plastic stickers on fruit and oxo-degradable plastics which break down into micro plastics but don't degrade.
"NSW generates 800,000 tonnes of plastic each year and only 10% is recycled, "said Ms Sloane.
"The previous Coalition Government had a clear plan to triple the plastics recycling rate by 2030. We are creating a mountain of waste that simply doesn't break down – and so much of it is unnecessary."
"The failure of the REDcycle recycling scheme, which saw the stockpiling of tonnes of soft plastics from Coles and Woolworths, has made it even more important to come up with new and innovative solutions to manage waste."
Ms Sloane invited people right across NSW to come together this World Environment Day and join the global effort to #BeatPlasticPollution
