All Queensland businesses must stop supplying banned single-use plastic items from 1 September 2021, unless they are an exempt business.

Businesses that will no longer be able to provide a banned item include restaurants, cafes, takeaway food shops, party suppliers and supermarkets. Suppliers, distributors and wholesalers of banned items may continue to supply them to a business if they have a reasonable belief that the business is an exempt business.

Items included in the ban:

• single-use plastic straws
• single-use plastic stirrers
• single-use plastic plates and bowls
• single-use plastic cutlery
• single-use expanded polystyrene takeaway food containers and cups.

Go to Banned items for a list of alternative items. There are a number of plastic items that are not included such as those which contain compostable plastics and meet Australian Standards, and there are certain businesses also exempt from the ban.

More information on how the ban will be enforced.

There are of course many many plastic items currently in regular use that need to be better managed and eventually banned. Many of these are often found littering our trails and campsites (bread bag tags for example*) so Outdoors Queensland encourages outdoor users to carefully consider what they take into the outdoors and whether a suitable reusable alternative is available.

*It is heartening to hear that at least one Australian bread manufacturer, Tip Top, is ditching the plastic tag.