End Plastic Pollution

Imagine a living planet, able to thrive without plastic pollution. Together, we can help make this a reality.

For years successive Liberal and Labor Governments have failed to act to stop plastic pollution. In NSW alone, we generate a shocking 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. We urgently need to do more to ensure we are stopping plastic waste from entering our environment, destroying habitats and killing wildlife.

The NSW EPA has released a paper on the future of plastic pollution in NSW. We have put together a form submission guide that you can customise and submit to the EPA to ensure your voice is heard.

We are calling for:

A re-commitment to phase out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics such as balloons, confetti and single-use cutlery by 2025
A time-bound commitment for all plastic plan initiatives to ensure accountability and prompt action
Steps to minimise harm from lost and discarded fishing gear including a gear buy back scheme, a levy on fishing nets to help fund net recovery, and extended producer responsibility for fishing equipment.
A commitment to introduce production standards to prohibit the use of rubber crumb infill in synthetic sports fields, with priority given to sustainable and organic alternatives.

Use this template to lodge your submission to the NSW EPA by Sunday the 4th of February.

Plastic pollution poses a huge risk to Australian sea animals and bird life. We need to act now to ensure NSW has a plan in place to reduce plastic pollution and help protect our living planet.

Together, we can make sure our voices are heard as we call for concrete action to stop plastic pollution in NSW.

MAKE YOUR SUBMISSION TO THE EPA

To the NSW EPA,
  
Thank you for the opportunity to present a submission on the Next Steps to tackle plastic pollution here in NSW. We urgently need stronger action to stop plastic pollution entering the environment and causing harm to people, animals and the planet. 
  
I welcome the proposed responses included in the next steps green paper including phasing out the use of: 
  
•	Single-serve condiment packages
•	Helium balloons
•	Grocery produce bags, fruit stickers and bread tags
•	Polystyrene food trays and
•	Loose-fill packaging 
  
While I support these recommendations, the EPA had formerly recommended a phase out of problematic and unnecessary plastics by 2025. I strongly encourage the EPA to re-commit to this timeline. I also encourage the EPA to include publicly available time-bound commitments for all of the recommendations in the plastics plan. 
  
While these recommendations are a welcome step in the right direction, more work needs to be done to bring NSW in line with other Australian states and countries around the world. In particular, the current recommendations miss key opportunities to reduce plastic pollution across several key areas. My submission will focus on these additional measures the EPA should adopt under the current phase of the NSW plastics plan. 
  
Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear 
  
The EPA paper notes at the outset that plastic pollution has a devastating impact on wildlife. Marine wildlife and seabirds are particularly at risk with up to 580,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre in the ocean. However, the paper fails to recommend concrete actions to address one of the primary drivers of plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways – lost and discarded fishing gear, also known as ghost gear. 
  
A significant amount of fishing gear is sold in NSW each year – with ABS figures from 2019-2022 showing that the value of the fishing gear industry in NSW is approximately $123 million. While tracking the origins of lost and discarded fishing gear is challenging, it is estimated that hundreds of tonnes of ghost gear ends up in Australian waters annually. Ghost gear entangles and kills marine animals, degrades habitats, and releases microplastics into the environment. A study by the World Wildlife Fund found that ghost gear is responsible for the deaths of up to 1.5 million marine animals each year. 
  
In the March 2020 discussion paper titled, ‘Cleaning up our Act: Redirecting the future of Plastic in NSW’, priority direction 7 outlined the prospect of using extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes to fund litter collection and end-of-life plastic management for items including recreational and commercial fishing gear in New South Wales. Despite identifying this as a priority direction, so far, the NSW government and the EPA have failed to proceed with consultation on an extended producer responsibility scheme to help reduce plastic pollution originating from lost and discarded fishing gear. 
  
It is incredibly disappointing to see the March 2020 recommendation omitted from the EPA plastics plan paper. I call on the EPA to continue their earlier plans for consultation on an extended producer responsibility scheme for recreational and commercial fishing gear here in NSW. 
  
The EPA should also look to the work being done to reduce the plastic pollution from ghost fishing gear in other states including Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. These three states have introduced a range of innovative approaches that NSW should look to adopt if we want to avoid falling behind on our management of plastic pollution in our waterways. In particular, I ask the EPA to investigate implementing the following initiatives currently in use in Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania:  
  
•	A gear buyback program to provide financial incentives to fishers to surrender their used fishing gear for recycling or disposal. 
•	Introducing a levy on fishing nets to fund marine debris recovery efforts. 
•	Introduce production standards to ensure lobster traps are made from biodegradable materials such as coir or hemp to reduce the long-term persistence of ghost gear in marine environments. 
  
With hundreds of tonnes of ghost gear ending up in Australian waters each year, killing marine animals and destroying vital habitats, it is clear the government must act by introducing new programs and initiatives to cut down on plastic pollution from fishing gear. 
  
Synthetic turf fields
  
The use of synthetic turf fields is another issue that has been overlooked in the current paper out for consultation. The EPA should look at introducing production standards for synthetic turf that prohibit the use of rubber crumb infill – a material that breaks down into microplastics and can wash into our waterways after heavy rain. 
  
4th Generation synthetic turf systems are now available in Australia. These are designed using yarn and were intended to tackle the issue of microplastic erosion from the earlier rubber crumb infill fields. The EPA should work to develop standards that prevent the use of turf fields known to result in microplastic pollution and should instead look to organic options and those designed to avoid microplastic erosion. 
  
Single Use Plastic Items
  
In addition to the recommendations already in the consultation paper, I encourage the EPA to investigate a phase out for these additional single use plastics: 
  
•	Plastic confetti
•	Single use plastic cutlery 
•	Plastic wrapping on magazines/newspapers/printed advertising. 
  
By phasing out the production of these single use plastics, NSW would be in a stronger position to address the serious issues caused by plastic pollution in our environment. 
  
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed next steps to tackle plastic pollution in NSW. 
  
Sincerely,