CITY of Vincent Mayor Emma Cole is “thrilled” with the State Government’s announcement of a statewide ban on plastic bags today.
Premier Mark McGowan today announced the ban would commence from July 1 2018.
South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and ACT have already moved to ban plastic bags, and now WA will follow suit.
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READ NOW“It makes sense to do so on a statewide basis rather than at individual council level,” Ms Cole said.
“A statewide ban is more holistic, more cost effective and a great outcome for waste reduction and the West Australian environment.
“There will be less confusion in the community if the same rules apply to all and it allows for a more comprehensive community education campaign to explain why the ban is so important.”
Vincent council on August 1 passed in-principal support of a statewide ban and Ms Cole notified the Environment and Local Government ministers of its position.
Ms Cole said some time had been spent by staff researching a local ban, but pursuing one now would be pointless.
“No costings have been to done to show how much a local ban would have cost (but) given the ban will be in place in less than a year, we doubt a City of Vincent Local Law, which requires the approval of the Legislative Council, could proceed any faster, nor is it likely to be successful if a statewide ban is imminent,” she said.
Environment minister Stephen Dawson said the process would be rolled out over the next nine months.
“We’ll talk to industry over the next few months about our scheme in WA,” he said.
A response to the ban has been sought from the City of Perth.
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