As the ACT approaches D-day for its plastic bag ban, the South Australian experience has shown that millions of bags have been removed from the environment in that state but sales of bin liners and other kitchen tidy bags have also increased dramatically.
There are also some rumblings in the ACT that thicker plastic bags will still be allowed to be used in supermarkets when the ban starts on November 1, with Ainslie IGA owner Manuel Xyrakis labelling it a ''farce''.
Coles and Woolworths will charge 15c each for the thicker plastic bags, which Coles says is cost price.
And store owners have been put on notice that they can be fined $110 for individuals or $550 for companies if they do not now offer alternatives for shoppers such as thicker plastic, paper, biodegradable or green bags.
Victoria has also gone cold on the idea of a plastic bag ban despite a high-profile trial of a levy, while Tasmania has put a ban on hold with fears it will cost too much to implement in the current climate.
While former federal environment minister Peter Garrett pushed for a national plastic bag ban, the Federal Government has since followed the lead of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council which says the ''financial costs of regulatory options'' convinced it not to recommend a ban or levy.
But the ACT Government remains upbeat, saying the ban is a step towards reducing the 64million lightweight plastic bags - those of 35 microns or less - used in the territory every year. It has allocated $80,000 for a community education campaign, expected to ramp up closer to November.
South Australia introduced its plastic bag ban in May 2009. A spokeswoman for the South Australia Environment Protection Authority said since then it was estimated about 400 million plastic bags had been removed from the waste and litter stream.
But Coles says it also saw an increase in the sale of all types of reusable bags in South Australia. ''We also saw sales of bin liner bags increase by about 40 per cent following the ban in South Australia,'' a spokesman said.
Similarly, Woolworths said sales of smaller kitchen tidy bags - about the same size as the banned plastic bags - were double the national average in South Australia.
The South Australian EPA says ''compliance and acceptance by the community, retail and bag suppliers have generally been very smooth''.
Action had been taken against one supplier of plastic bags which did not comply with the Australian Standard for biodegradable plastic.
A ban on plastic bags started in the Northern Territory on September 1 this year, with a spokeswoman saying it was too early to measure any impact.
Opposition leader Zed Seselja did not support a ban on plastic bags because he believed it was a measure based on perceptions rather than evidence, disputing whether it had a net benefit for the environment. ''I think for most people it will be an inconvenience and an added cost,'' he said.
Environment Minister Simon Corbell said the plastic bag ban was a small step towards reducing waste to landfill. He defended the continued use of thicker plastic bags, saying they could be reused. ''I think Canberrans will support the ban and understand why it's happening,'' he said.
Shop-Rite Rivett manager Charles Pattison said he was offering the thicker plastic bags but had still not decided whether to charge for them.
He said shoppers were ''50-50'' about the ban. ''Some people are for it and some people think it won't make a difference,'' he said.
The Labor-Greens parliamentary agreement included introducing a levy on plastic bags but the Government decided it could not be done constitutionally. A telephone survey of 560 ACT households in 2009 found 72 per cent reused their plastic bags, mainly as bin liners.
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