Civil Liability (BYO Containers) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (17:41): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to move this amendment bill in this place to the Civil Liability Act 1936. The purpose of the bill is to grow our circular economy and limit the use of single-use plastics in South Australia. We know that food packaging waste is a significant contributor to climate degradation and environmental pollution. The data tells a chilling story. Half of all plastic is used once and then thrown away. Globally, at least eight million tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean each year. The United Nations has declared the plastic pollution of oceans a planetary crisis.

These plastics do not break down. They simply become smaller microplastics, which have been found in deep oceans in the Antarctic ice and ingested by human beings and other animals. We cannot continue to consume at this rate but must learn to live more within the capacity of the natural world. Protecting our biodiversity and responding to climate change is the great challenge of our time. This means we must learn to embrace the circular economy and re-use rather than exhaust our finite resources.

For this reason, we have already banned the use of single-use items such as straws, cutlery and polystyrene cups in South Australia. I pay tribute to the former environment minister for his leadership in that legislation. We were the first state to ban the use of single-use plastic products, demonstrating our collective leadership. In 2009, we were the first nation to implement a ban on lightweight check-out style plastic bags. It is therefore logical that we continue to limit waste and empower consumers to make environmentally positive choices with this bill. Without diminishing the significant role that governments must play in acting on climate change, we must certainly all contribute to protecting our environment.

This bill will permit consumers to bring their own containers to purchase food. In the same way that many South Australians already bring their own coffee cups to cafes, under this bill they can bring their own containers for takeaway food items. By bringing our own containers, we can reduce our reliance on disposable food packaging. The liability for bringing re-usable containers will sit with the consumer rather than with the business. This means that businesses can be reassured that, as long as they are acting in good faith regarding the products they serve, there will be no disadvantage to them for customers who use their own containers if something goes wrong.

The business will only assume civil liability if they knew the food was unsafe for consumption, that it was subject to a food recall order, or if the use of the container is negligent or unlawful. Businesses may choose whether or not they will allow consumers to bring in their own containers. However, we know that South Australian businesses are acutely aware of the need to reduce waste and want to contribute to the climate change response. This bill will simply provide them with the confidence to do so and may even help to reduce the significant cost of packaging for business owners.

This bill is good reform for businesses, consumers and the planet. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Hon. Robert Simms in the other place for introducing this legislation, and before him the Hon. Mark Parnell, who first introduced this legislation during the years between 2018 and 2022.

I believe that this bill speaks for itself as the logical next step to reduce food packaging waste. We have asked a lot of our planet, but we are reaching the threshold where our demands for unlimited resources can no longer be met. We must be responsible actors for ourselves, our wildlife and our waterways. We must all make better, environmentally conscious choices. Government must enable businesses and consumers to make these choices, and I am hopeful that the members of this place will support this bill, as has occurred in the other place, and that we will be able to change the law for the good.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (17:45): I rise in support of the Civil Liability (BYO Containers) Amendment Bill 2022, and I thank the Deputy Premier in her capacity as Minister for Climate, Environment and Water for indicating the government's support for this piece of legislation. This is a sensible, fairly straightforward piece of legislation, which was introduced into the other place by the Hon. Robert Simms, with work done prior to Robert's work by the Hon. Mark Parnell, who obviously retired a few months before the last election.

It is just sensible legislation, and it really builds on South Australia's tremendous heritage when it comes to dealing with plastic pollution, and all forms of pollution in fact. We know that South Australia has led Australia, and often the world, when it comes to dealing with waste management and resource recovery and developing in more recent times a circular economy, and that transition of language from dealing with pollution, with rubbish, to waste management, to resource recovery, to now what we call, in much more positive language and much more opportunity laden, the circular economy.

This piece of legislation builds on that great heritage because it says, very simply, that when people go to an organisation like a deli or a butcher, or someone selling products where you can take your own BYO container, the business that is receiving that to put food items in will be exempt from any liability that might be associated with something that happens thereafter with the material within that container.

I have simplified what it is all about, but it basically means that once this legislation is passed it will be much easier for businesses to receive bring-your-own containers without worrying that there might be some civil liability associated with it. This is a good thing because it will encourage people to bring their own containers. It will see fewer disposable single-use plastic containers used, and we do see delis and butchers, and places where we buy veg and various salads and things like that, as one of the last bastions of consistent single-use plastic use in our state.

If you go back to the late 1970s, South Australia was the first place to bring in the container deposit legislation. In fact, Victoria will only catch up with that scheme next year, some 45 years after we brought that in in South Australia. In 2008, we saw South Australia become the first place in the world to ban the lightweight single-use plastic bags at point of sale. Then in 2021, we saw the single-use plastic ban, which will come in in various phases, but it started off on 1 March 2021 with drink stirrers, plastic straws and plastic cutlery, and we are seeing the impact of that approach already. We are seeing the amount of plastic on our beaches, in our creeks and in our parks reduced, and really reduced in a tangible way.

Only a couple of days ago I was reading an article in The Guardian that showed that in the last few years—and it is not attributable to our most recent legislation, it is more around awareness-raising and this consistent approach to litter reduction and resource recovery over the last decade or so—we have seen a 30 per cent reduction in the plastic pollution being found on our beaches around Australia.

That is a CSIRO study that took a benchmark year in 2012-13 and followed that up in 2018-19 and we saw a 30 per cent reduction in the litter found in those areas—some areas more than others, and the best area was a 73 per cent reduction in plastic pollution. These sorts of pieces of legislation send a powerful signal to the community, are a goad to action and give people permission in some sense to do the right thing by our environment—not just individuals and communities but also businesses as well.

This is good legislation. I want to thank the Deputy Premier for indicating the government's support. I want to thank the Hon. Robert Simms in another place for initiating this and stewarding it through the Legislative Council. This is a great piece of legislation. It has complete bipartisan support and I hope will pass into the statute books and make that difference for our natural environment in South Australia. It is an example of all parties working together once again to benefit our state's environment, and I am proud to be part of a place that can do that.

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (17:51): I rise to speak in support of the Civil Liability (BYO Containers) Amendment Bill. This is a bill to permit consumers to bring their own re-usable containers to businesses and to take away their food in such. This bill will remove the frustration of so many consumers who want to do the right thing but also, importantly, will be protecting businesses and removing them from any liability.

I have long been a keen advocate of sustainability and also with regard to food services. In fact, a few years ago, as a regular patron of the food court at the Adelaide Central Market, I noticed that a lot of the outlets there were starting to serve all their meals in takeaway containers, plastic containers, where it used to be crockery. I investigated this by speaking to a number of the small business owners there.

What had happened was that the landlord had taken away the central kitchen and none of them had any space in the back of their outlets to do their own dishes, so they thought the only opportunity then was to bring in single-use plastics. I took it upon myself to run a petition and walk around the food court of the market to put a little bit of pressure on the landlord to bring back the central kitchen so that we could have a sustainable food service in the food court of the Adelaide Central Market.

Businesses still have a choice and they will be able to choose whether or not they allow consumers to bring their own containers, but I suspect that consumers will be very keen to attend to practices that enable them to bring their own containers. This bill is an important step towards reducing single-use items. Whilst so many individuals and so many households do whatever they can to protect the environment, there are always those who do not do the right thing, and so we find that takeaway food and beverage packaging makes up more than one-third of litter found on our beaches.

We know that half of all plastic which is produced is designed only for single use. This bill will help us reduce that significantly. We know that food packaging waste carries an enormous cost for the environment. The production of food packaging uses a significant amount of water and emits greenhouse gases and, once disposed of, contributes to large amounts of landfill as well as ending up in our waterways and on our beaches.

South Australia has long been a leader in this space and, in 2009, we were the first state to implement a ban on lightweight check-out style plastic bags, but there is still much to be done. We were the first state to ban single-use plastic straws, cutlery and stirrers from 1 March 2021, and then from 1 March 2022 the ban was expanded to polystyrene cups, bowls, plates and clamshell containers.

I encourage all in our South Australian community to embrace the opportunities that this bill brings and also the fact that there is no obligation on businesses. They will no longer assume any liability and can have confidence moving forward to enable this practice to occur. I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Odenwalder.