Aestra was engaged by ACT No Waste within the ACT Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate (TCCS) to develop the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) and Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Assessment to support the development of the Plastic Reduction Bill 2020.

In 2019, the ACT Government proposed to introduce new legislation to phase out single-use plastics within the ACT. The Plastic Reduction Bill 2020 aimed to reduce the use of plastic in the ACT, particularly single-use plastic, by prohibiting the supply of identified single-use plastic items. The bill also established a framework for adding other products in the future and absorbed the existing plastic shopping bag ban to streamline plastic-related regulation in the ACT.

In the ACT, any new, or amended legislative proposals that may impact on a stakeholder group requires a RIS to be prepared. We developed a RIS to examine the regulatory impacts of the Plastic Reduction Bill 2020 and identify where government, industry, business, community organisations or the community may be impacted by the proposed reform. We also supported the development of a whole-of- government submission to gain support for the tabling of the Plastic Reduction Bill 2020.

The RIS and TBL Assessment were tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly and supported debate of the Plastic Reduction Bill 2020. The Plastic Reduction Act 2021 was passed by the Legislative Assembly and came into effect in April 2021.

Photo credit: Kajanan Sanitkunpai, 2023.