City of Bayswater supports statewide ban on plastic bags

CITY of Bayswater council supports a statewide ban on plastic bags in an effort to stop pollution.

Council will advise the WA Local Government Association (WALGA) that it supports statewide legislation to ban plastic bans and will call on it to advocate the State Government.

It did not support introducing a local law to ban the bags just within Bayswater boundaries, which council was also asked to consider by WALGA.

Councillor Brent Fleeton said he worked at a State Government department which helped overturn City of Fremantle’s local law bag ban.

“If the State Government wants to ban plastic bags on a state level, that’s great,” he said.

He said local governments should not approve “ad hoc” changes.

Councillor Terry Kenyon said council should be doing something to help stop plastic bag pollution, as they ended up in landfill and took 10 to 15 years to decompose.

“One week we’re saying ‘save the wetlands’ but destroy it with plastic bags,” he said.

He said birds often became tangled in plastic at the foreshore in Bayswater city.

Mayor Barry McKenna said some large businesses had already said “no” to plastic bags and the issue was the State Government’s responsibility.

A City officer recommended council not support a plastic bag ban.

According to CSIRO research, the density of plastic can range from a few thousand pieces per square kilometre to 40,000 pieces per square kilometre.