Single-Use Plastics

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Can the minister update the house on the impact South Australia becoming the first mover in the country on banning single-use plastic products will have on our economy?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:08): I thank the member for Colton for his question—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —and interest in this area. He's always very keen to hear about the positive things we are doing for our environment, and when they intersect with economic benefit as well the bonuses are even greater. It's actually one year ago today, on 9 September 2020, that the Single-use Plastic and Other Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020 passed the parliament, and obviously it came into effect from 1 March 2021.

So it is particularly worth reflecting on that nation-leading piece of legislation and the sense of bipartisanship support that it gained in order to continue South Australia's proud heritage of having a very strong response to waste management, to litter reduction and, in more recent times, to the transition from those approaches around the policies of waste towards those that focus on the circular economy, more commonly known now as the green economy.

We know that South Australia has a very strong brand nationally and internationally in the green economy—in the circular economy—driving products round and round the economy and turning them into the same or similar products. That is something that we have got good at. We have often sent the legislative signal to the private sector, which has then been very quick to respond to the needs of the market, to the needs of the community, to the needs of other businesses, getting on board with our transition towards a more circular economy.

We have seen that with the signal that we sent. We sent it fairly early, back in 2019. We said we were going to get into this single-use plastic reduction area, we were going to back that up with legislation, but we wanted businesses to lead the way. We were delighted by the way that businesses did lead the way, both through the transition with businesses that use single-use plastics on a day-to-day basis and also with markets finding alternative products, investing in research and development and taking those to market.

While there are significant conservation and environmental benefits from our single-use plastic legislation, those economic benefits are significant. South Australia is very well placed to get those benefits not just from the consumers in South Australia who want these alternatives but from the consumers in other states once they pass similar legislation—we know that Queensland has recently brought legislation into place—and also other jurisdictions as they catch up. Many states around the nation have indicated that they will catch up. They have not necessarily got there yet but, when they do, those alternatives can be manufactured in South Australia and the job benefits will come here.

It has been great to get to know some businesses along the way that have been involved in manufacturing these alternatives. One called Mister RYE springs to mind, a young couple who have established an alternative straw using rye from barley or wheat, treating that and then taking that to market. Another very successful South Australian company based down at Marleston, just off Richmond Road, is BioBag, which is rolling products out all across Australia to replace the barrier bags in supermarkets and those that are used in the kitchen caddy.

While there are very significant conservation and environmental benefits from this legislation, we should not ever underestimate the economic benefits that market signal can trigger, and it's worth recognising that today on the first anniversary of the passage of this legislation.