· Every year, New Zealanders use 1.14 billion petroleum based plastic bags. We only use a plastic bag for minutes. However, they can take between 15 and 1000 years to break down in the environment.

 

· Over 40,000 plastic check-out bags are dumped in landfills every hour in New Zealand. It is estimated that plastic makes up to 20% of NZ’s landfill space

 

· As a pacific country, and coastal community we are also direct contributors to the extreme levels of plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean, which is rapidly becoming acidified by plastic waste, and is killing fish, marine mammals, and birds at alarming rates.

 

· Plastic is the second largest component of Gisborne’s waste and is a major waste concern in the Gisborne region. We are an active coastal community that depends on our natural resources. Plastic waste is a serious threat to our beaches, waterways, and to our bird and marine life.

 

· Plastic bags are a by product of the oil industry – as a region that is currently under exploration for oil and gas, we are concerned by the ever increasing need for more fossil fuel extraction driven by high consumption. Reducing plastic consumption is one way to lessen the burden on our limited fossil fuel supply.

 

We can break ourselves of the plastic bag habit. Some governments and retailers have begun taking steps to phase out plastic bags. San Francisco banned them in 2007, Hawaii banned plastic bags in 2013, and Kaikoura is on the way to banning plastic bags.

Around the world, towns, cities, regions, states and countries are divesting themselves of plastic bags and we would like to do the same. Recycling is not a solution, we need to curb our consumption, and research has shown that levies are effective in doing this. 

We request that our council impose a levy on plastic bags, and move progressively towards a plastic bag ban in our region.