Lightweight plastic bags ban starts on June 1 with other items to follow quickly

The changes can't come quick enough for Danielle Roll, a shire resident and owner of a cafe in the inner west.

Ms Roll said her cafe and others in that area moved away from plastic several years ago, and many shire businesses were lagging behind.

She believes it's a change that should be embraced "when you consider we are surrounded by ocean and rivers".

Ms Roll raised her concerns with one of the shire's most popular hotels when she found they were still using plastic straws.

She received a reply from the licensee, saying, "We had been investigating some different suppliers due to the volume we go through but to be honest it was something that we hadn't picked back up since reopening [after COVID] and definitely an important item to resolve".

"Paper straws are certainly a much more cost-effective item now than they were 12 months ago," the licensee said.

Ms Roll said the hotel had since changed to paper straws and so had its other businesses.

"When you add it up, that's a lot of landfill saved," she said. "Every plastic straw takes over 200 years to decompose."

Details of the plastic items phase-in are on the Environment Protection Authority's website.

A lightweight plastic bag is defined as one with handles that is 35 microns or less in thickness at any part of the bag.

Lightweight bags made from biodegradable, compostable, or bio-plastics will also be banned, including those made from Australian certified compostable plastic.

From November 1, the ban will be extended to single-use plastic straws, stirrers and swizzle sticks, and cutlery, including forks, spoons, knives, sporks, splayds, chopsticks, and food picks.

The ban applies even if these items are made from biodegradable, compostable, or bio-plastics.