Wodonga Council is seeking community feedback on its single-use plastics policy.
Single-use plastics are generally described as plastic items used only once before being discarded, almost always to landfill. These items include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging.
Wodonga Council has been working with AlburyCity under the Two Cities One Community partnership to develop a Single-Use Plastic Policy for both councils.
The policy plans to formalise council’s commitment to:
- Reducing single-use plastics within its operations and at civic events;
- Implementing responsible procurement practices;
- Exercising influence on supply chains; and,
- Improving consumer information on single-use plastics.
Cr Kat Bennett said community feedback on the policy was very important.
"It is an issue that the community have spoken to us about," Cr Bennett said.
"This is the draft and there is certainly an opportunity to go back and change things. There has been some feedback around the dates. The report from council acknowledges that this is a whole of council approach."
The draft policy demonstrates Wodonga Council’s leadership in plastic waste reduction by reducing single-use plastic within council operations and events with the aim to, over time, eliminate single-use plastic from its operations.
From November 1, the Victorian Government has banned single-use plastic bags, which means that plastic shopping bags less than 35 microns thick, including degradable, biodegradable and compostable plastic shopping bags are now banned.
Some plastics are recyclable but large volumes are dispatched to landfill, representing about 10 per cent of all waste disposed of to landfill in Victoria.
The transition to alternatives to single-use plastics will take time, and it is therefore proposed that Wodonga Council and AlburyCity phase in the policy.
To have your say, visit Make Wodonga Yours.