Plastic bag ban put to NSW parliament

NSW Greens MP Justin Field introduced the proposal to the upper house on Thursday morning.

A lady unloads her re-useable plastic bags provided by Woolworths at Wolli Creek, Sydney, Monday, July 2, 2018. Source: AAP

Legislation to phase out all single-use plastic bags across NSW by the end of the year has been introduced to state parliament.

NSW Greens MP Justin Field introduced the proposal to the upper house on Thursday morning saying the state had fallen "woefully" behind others when it came to reducing plastic pollution.

The proposed laws include banning single-use plastics such as bags and straws by the end of 2018, and aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the marine environment by 90 per cent by 2020.