Hobart may be a small city in the south of Tasmania, but it’s setting an excellent example that all major cities in Australia should follow.
Hobart City Council has announced that it voted in favour of implementing a city-wide ban on all single-use plastics by 2020. Hobart will be the first major city in Australia to ban single-use plastics on such a scale.
The ban will be active and in full swing by late 2019 or early 2020 at the latest, and the ban means that no businesses within the city limits will be allowed to use or giveaway single-use plastics such as plastic straws, containers, cutlery, cups and drink cup lids.
All businesses within the city limits will now have to transition to using all recyclable or reusable materials, such as those made from cardboard, paper or wood.
“What that says is that we’re serious about leading by example and we’re a council that takes the initiative, that makes bold decisions and this is one of those decisions that will have impacts for councils across Australia,” Hobart councillor Bill Harvey told ABC News.
However, the by-law will now be put to the Director of Local Government for further consideration, with a public consultation of 21 days following that, before council eventually enacts the by-law.
Anti-plastic crusaders in the state’s north are pushing for the city of Launceston to follow the example set by Hobart, while councillors who voted in favour of the ban on the Hobart City Council (won 8-4 in favour!) have already passed the legislation on to state government officials in a bid to have the ban implemented across the entire state of Tasmania.
The Hobart City Council also facilitated a city-wide survey some time ago to find out if residents would like single-use plastic banned from the city. The results were 96 per cent of respondents in favour of the ban.
Tasmania has been a leader in reducing plastic waste and issued a state-wide ban on plastic bags back in 2013.
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