New Zealand celebrates a year of plastic ban success

A year on from New Zealand banning some single-use plastics, almost one billion plastic items have been taken out of circulation.

Over the course of the first year, the bans have prevented an estimated 200 million plastic straws, 600 million items of plastic cutlery, bowls and plates, and 150 million plastic produce bags from ending up in landfills or the environment. That’s 17,000 plastic bags, every hour.

The single-use plastic bans, which came into effect on 1 July 2023, followed the 2022 ban on plastic drink stirrers and cotton buds, some polystyrene and PVC food and beverage packaging, and plastics that contain additives that make them break down faster into microplastics.