Victorians will no longer have access to single-use plastics from today as the government enacts a ban on the items across the state.
The ban prohibits the supply and sale of plastic straws, cutlery, plates, drink-stirrers, expanded polystyrene containers and cotton bud sticks.
The single-use plastic ban was announced in February 2021 and the state government has since provided grants to help businesses trail the use of alternative items. Plastic shopping bags were banned in Victoria in 2019.
Individuals who require the use of single-use plastic drinking straws due to a medical requirement or disability will be exempt from the ban.
According to the government, single-use plastics make up a third of all Victoria's litter.
But plastic waste experts and anti-pollution campaigners expressed concern the ban does not go far enough and have questioned how Australia's plastics ban can compete with pollution on a global scale.
Boomerang Alliance director Jeff Angel said the government needed to continue ongoing discussions into Victoria's single-use plastic ban and devise the "next steps" within the legislation.
"If you compare [Victoria's ban] to other states like WA, South Australia, Queensland, they moved some time ago and they are now working on a second [round] of items," he said.
"There will be calls for New South Wales and Victoria to catch up …
"Our submissions to the government said they should include more items … such as heavyweight plastic bags, coffee cups, some of the other plastic packaging. But it's important we start."
A state government spokesperson said the government would work to ensure "we can continue to reduce our plastic pollution and will continue to engage with Victorians".
Jane Bremmer, the campaign coordinator of Zero Waste Australia's National Toxic's Network, said the plastic industry's "time is up".
"It is a material that, in the future, we need to live without because the planet cannot sustain plastic production," Ms Bremmer said.
"But ... single-use plastics are a smallish fraction of the entire plastic waste pollution crisis that we are facing at the moment."
Mr Angel said while it was vital all states got on board for the bans, discussions needed to continue about reducing waste on a global scale.
"There are now negotiations going on about an international treaty to end plastic pollution," he said.
The environmentalist said major multi-national corporations had put the onus of waste reduction on individuals.
"They want to put the focus on consumption and disposal end, while other countries, including Australia, have a higher level of ambition where we reduce the actual production of plastic," he said.
"And that is where a big international fight will play out over the coming 12 months."
Under the Victorian ban, plastic products would only be considered "reusable" if they came with a warranty guarantee that they were designed to last a year.
Mr Angel said it would "be interesting" to see whether companies or businesses attempted to take advantage of the wording.
Ms Bremmer said there needed to be a renewed focus on "greenwashed" products.
Greenwashing is a marketing spin in which a consumer is led to believe a product is biodegradable or plastic-free.
The ACCC is the regulator responsible for false claims around the plastic items, including greenwashing.
According to the Australia Packaging Covenant Organisation, Australians only recycle about 16 per cent of plastic waste.
"There are a lot of companies that are sort of the middle-men in the recycling industry — they collect recyclables and stick it in a box ... and just post it back to us," Ms Bremmer said.
"Unfortunately there is no real proof that what people are paying for is actually being delivered."
