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| NATIONAL PHASE-OUT POLICY |
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In 2002, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), made up of Australian Government, State and Territory Environment Ministers, agreed on a national approach to reduce lightweight plastic bag use.
They decided that a National Code of Practice for the management of light-weight plastic bags was needed, with participation rates of 90% for supermarket/retail chains and 25% for smaller retailers.
The EPHC set tough reduction and recycling targets in the Code for major supermarkets - the number of plastic bags issued by supermarkets had to fall by 25% by the end of 2004 and 50% by the end of 2005. A recycling rate of 15% (through in-store collection) was also set for the end of 2005.
By the end of 2005, Supermarkets achieved a 41% reduction in use of plastic bags. Overall, a reduction of 34% from 2002 to 2005 saved 2 billion bags from being produced.
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