Western Metropolitan Region
Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (12:38): (1742) My question is to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change in the other place, and it is from a resident, Greg from Maribyrnong. Will single-use plastic bottles, such as soft drink and water bottles, be included in either the banned single-use items or in the up-and-coming container deposit system? Greg walks around the Maribyrnong and Footscray area and notes that there is a large amount of these bottles which end up in the rivers, parks and garden areas. He stated that Victoria and Tasmania are the only states that do not recycle these items. While the government has announced a ban on all single-use plastics by 2023, including single-use plastic straws, cutlery, plates and drink stirrers, polystyrene food and drink containers and plastic cotton bud sticks, single-use drink bottles have not been listed as banned or included in the container deposit scheme.