Victoria yesterday became the third Australian jurisdiction to ban single-use plastics, including polystyrene containers, straws, cutlery, plates and plastic cotton bud sticks.
Victoria Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced a phase-out and ban of specific single-use plastics by 2023, including at bars, cafes and restaurants, in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes to landfills each year.
The phase out and ban would not affect medical or scientific equipment, emergency services or other activities that require these types of plastics.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Single-use plastic items — like straws and plastic cups — make up about one-third of Victoria’s litter,” D’Ambroisio said. “We need to change this, so we’re getting rid of them.”
Each Victorian sends an average of 68kg of plastic waste to landfill every year.
The government would consult businesses and the community throughout the year as part of a formal regulatory impact statement process.
It follows South Australia, which in September last year became the first Australian state to ban some single-use plastics including cutlery, straws and stirrers.
The South Australian legislation also lists items under consideration to be added to the ban list, including single-use coffee cups and lids and single-use plastic bowls, plates, food containers, balloon sticks, balloon ties, bags and plastic-stemmed cotton buds.
However, the introduction of the legislation was delayed due to COVID-19.
There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic might have stymied some progress toward lessening a reliance on plastic, with an increase in medical waste from disposable masks, gloves and gowns, disposable wipes, and liquid soap.
In December last year, Queensland also introduced legislation to stem the destructive effects of plastic on marine life and waterways.
The government is seeking community feedback on whether the ban should be extended to include polystyrene containers.
A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law said that urgent action to stem production and disposal of throwaway plastic was needed.
“At current levels, greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle threaten the ability of the global community to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C,” it said.
“With the petrochemical and plastic industries planning a massive expansion in production, the problem is on track to get much worse,” it added.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not