Reducing the environmental impacts of excess packaging and problematic and unnecessary plastic products, including single-use plastic products, and encouraging business to develop and adopt new alternatives is a strategic priority for Green Industries SA (GISA).
South Australia has a long and proud history of taking action to address plastic pollution caused by problematic and unnecessary plastic items. In 2009, South Australia was the first Australian jurisdiction to ban lightweight plastic shopping bags. In 2020, South Australia continued this leadership by being the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce legislation restricting and prohibiting a range of single-use and other problematic and unnecessary plastic products.
The key objectives of South Australia's Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Act 2020 (the Act) are to:
- restrict and prohibit the manufacture, production, distribution, sale and supply of certain single-use and other plastic products
- promote better waste management practices including the reduction of marine litter
- promote the principles of the waste management hierarchy
- promote the principles of the circular economy.
The Replace the Waste website contains all information relating to actions South Australia has taken to address single-use and other plastic products, including detailed overviews of items that have been banned, an alternatives library, publications and resources for businesses.
Shaping and supporting the phase-out of problematic and unnecessary plastic products
GISA continues to develop, implement and promote SA’s single-use and other plastic product policies.
Replace the Waste
Replace the Waste is the educational campaign that underpins SA’s plastic product bans and restrictions.
The campaign website hosts information for businesses and communities to help them understand and navigate the legislation and its impacts.
Consultation
GISA has consulted with industry, business and community stakeholders across different stages of the state’s plastic product bans and restrictions.
Documents released for public consultation, and summaries of the feedback received through these consultations, are available on the Replace the Waste website.
Single-use Plastics Stakeholder Taskforce
The Single-use Plastics Stakeholder Taskforce was established in 2019 to inform the development of the legislation, and to subsequently inform its implementation and expansion of restricted and banned plastic products.
The taskforce consists of representatives of selected business, industry, local government and interest groups.
Independent review
As per the requirements set out in Section 19 of the Act, GISA commissioned an independent review of the Act in 2024.
Findings from the review were published in December 2024, and a government response to the report is being prepared.
Plastic Free SA
The Plastic Free SA program, funded by GISA and delivered by Boomerang Alliance since September 2019, has supported South Australian cafes, restaurants and other food vendors in replacing prohibited and restricted plastic products with more sustainable options, such as compostable and reusable alternatives.
In 2019, Plastic Free SA implemented its Plastic-free precincts program, recognising precincts where businesses committed to a Plastic Free SA membership, and to cutting out single-use plastic products that extended beyond the bans in place at the time.
The original precincts were the Adelaide Central Market, The Parade (Norwood), Jetty Road (Brighton), and Surf Life Saving South Australia (21 clubs).
In 2021, membership to the Plastic Free SA program was opened to businesses outside the formal precincts, and between 2021 and 2024, 12 additional plastic-free precincts were launched.
As of July 2025, Plastic Free SA’s members (approximately 200 businesses) have replaced an estimated 15 million problematic and unnecessary plastic products with sustainable alternatives.
This successful program will close at the end of 2025, having delivered practical support to South Australian businesses to investigate and implement alternatives to problematic and unnecessary plastic products ahead of the announced bans.
Funding
Through the agency’s grant funding programs, GISA has supported various projects trialling innovative approaches to reducing business and the community’s dependence on single-use plastic packaging and products.
See a full list of projects funded by GISA to date.
National harmonisation
GISA is contributing to national matters concerning plastics and packaging, including:
- harmonising action on problematic and unnecessary plastics
- reforming Australia’s packaging regulations to address a range of problematic packaging formats, including those products and materials not addressed by South Australia’s single-use and other plastic products legislation.
