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Major supermarkets in NSW have now banned single-use plastic bags.​

Currently Australians use 13 million new plastic bags every day! On average, these bags are used for only 12 minutes before being discarded.  Only 3 per cent are recycled, with the rest ending up in landfills, waterways, backyards and parks where they can last for up to 1,000 years.

Here’s some handy tips on how you can reduce the amount of plastic bags you use:

• Trial a few different reusable bags and choose the ones you like best.  You can get them from the supermarket or even buy one of the many fashionable options available from retailers;
• Keep some reusable bags in your car, workplace and home ready for when you go shopping;
• Use the reusable bags! The more often you reuse a bag the better it is for the environment; and
• When you are at the checkout, practice saying: "No thanks."

You can also replace smaller fruit and vegetable bags too!  There are plenty of options available.

Recycle Right

It’s important to keep plastic bags out of your yellow recycling bin. You can recycle your used shopping bags as well as bread, rice, pasta, lolly, cereal and other soft plastics at participating supermarkets where they are turned into useful products like outdoor furniture.

Other rigid plastics like bottles, tubs and containers go in your yellow household recycling bin.

Visit our Which rubbish goes where?​ page for more information on what goes in which household bin.