Rally demands plastic bags ban in Victoria

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By SAT News Desk

Melbourne, 8 June: Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of the Victorian Parliament House to celebrate it and ask for action on marine plastic pollution. Two majestic whale puppets, a sperm whale, and a humpback whale will swim amongst and breached high above the heads of the crowd, who held up a mass of single-use plastic bags.

The rally demanded a ban on plastic bags in Victoria. Plastic Bag Free Victoria collected 10,000 signatories prior to the bill being tabled and are now waiting on the government’s decision.

“Children and adults in communities throughout Victoria that I have spoken to in the thousands, are absolutely mystified as to why the government hasn’t acted to ban single-use plastic bags,” says Anthony Hill, Plastic Pollution Solutions.

In an open letter to the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said, “Our oceans cannot continue to withstand our relentless plastic consumption and our evident inability to manage the resulting waste. Eight million tons of plastic enter global waterways each
year. 95% of plastic packaging is used once and then thrown away.”

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The letter says: “We, the undersigned, ask that the Victorian government take immediate and decisive action on the main avoidable sources of marine plastic pollution, as identified in the Federal Senate Environment &Communications Reference Committee Inquiry (April 2016, Attachment 1) “Toxic Tide: the threat

of marine plastic pollution in Australia”:

1.Ban single-use plastic bags (including biodegradable, degradable and oxo-degradable
bags)

2. Ban the sale of all products containing microbeads (cosmetic and industrial use)

3. Curtail excessive plastic packaging

4. Adopt a container deposit scheme

5. Better enforce existing laws to prevent nurdle spills from industrial sites.

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Neeraj Nanda

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