Bill passes to repeal Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008

Last month SA Government repealed the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008, ensuring stronger penalties are now in force under the Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020, or Single-use Plastics Act.

The repeal ensures that there is no risk of confusion for businesses between the Acts, and ensures the more contemporary Act is now in force, with stronger penalties under the Single-use Plastics Act, including the maximum penalty for providing a plastic shopping bag $20,000 for a manufacturer, producer, wholesaler or distributor and $5,000 in other cases, such as for a retailer.

The repeal reinforces the State Government’s efforts to remove plastic shopping bags, with the ban on all plastic shopping bags now included in the more broadly scoped Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020, or Single-use Plastics Act.

The Single-use Plastics Act includes an exemption for Australian Standard (AS) certified compostable shopping bags, as well as additional exemptions for commonly used reusable shopping bags made from plastic materials such as nylon, polyester, woven polypropylene and non-woven polypropylene. There is also a 3-year temporary exemption, until 1 September 2027, for charitable organisations who receive donations of goods from the public in plastic shopping bags. This time period enables charities to use existing plastic bags in circulation to receive donated items and reuse for the sales of the goods.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will continue to administer the current Act.