It had an aborted early start at supermarket giant Woolworths but Queensland's single-use plastic bag ban is here to stay.
The statewide ban on bags less than 35 microns came into effect on Sunday.
Woolworths got a headstart on the official ban, removing bags from their stores in June, but were forced to offer free reuseable bags to customers days later after complaints.
The Woolworths bag offer runs until July 8.
Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch admits there will be those who struggle with the bag ban but believed taking your own bags to a shop will quickly become second nature.
"We know that people are behind this but of course change is sometimes a little bit difficult," Ms Enoch said.
"It'll take a little while for some members of our public to get used to remembering to take their reusable bags but it won't take long until many of us just use it as everyday practice.
"It is a small change for a big impact."
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the bag ban brought the state in line with other states in Australia.
Ms Palaszczuk said the decision was purely down to environmental concerns.
"This is purely about protecting our environment," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"I really want families to understand how important it is to look after and save our environment ... at the end of the day this is about all of us doing something together."
The ban is part of a broader push to cut down on disposable plastics as the volume of accumulated plastic in the oceans is tipped to become greater than that of fish by 2050.
Under the changes retailers will face a $6000 fine if they supply single-use bags.
Share
