The territory government has launched two surveys, one for residents and one for business owners, on whether items such as plastic straws, cutlery and plastic plates and coffee cups should be phased out.

The surveys come after the government released a discussion paper earlier this year outlining its plan to ban single-use plastics in a bid to reduce the ACT's environmental impact.

While the government is looking to ban single-use plastics such as polystyrene food containers and light-weight fruit and vegetable bags, items like food packaging, nappies, sanitary items and cotton buds would be excluded from the ban.

Health-related items such as syringes and incontinence products would also be exempt.

Microbeads, which contain single-use plastics, are not included in the ban as they are already being phased out in the ACT.

The community surveys would be available for Canberrans until the end of July.

Almost 300 submissions have already been made about the proposed ban.

City Services Minister Chris Steel said the current plastic use in the ACT was unsustainable.

"There's well over 23,000 tonnes of plastic that go into landfill every year," Mr Steel said.

"We can't throw away responsibility for the plastics that we use that is littering parks and waterways and landscapes."

Community consultations are also planned ahead of the government ban, with consultations for residents taking place on June 15 at Canberra Museum and Gallery and on June 18 at the Hellenic Club.

Consultations for businesses will take place on June 25 at Rydges Capital Hill and July 10 and July 11 at East Hotel.

The government's discussion paper said it proposed to phase out the most unnecessary single-use plastic items first, where alternatives were more readily available, before moving on to other single use plastic items.

Mr Steel said hearing the community's reaction to the proposed ban on plastic would help to determine what items would be more likely to be ruled out.

"We know that single-use plastic is not sustainable and lasts for hundreds of years in landfill, and we want to reduce the amount of recoverable plastic that goes into landfill," he said.

"The feedback from people so far has ranged from 'ban it all now', through to concerns about alternative products that are available."

Community groups will also be consulted about the single-use plastic ban, with disability groups calling for plastic straws to remain available.

Some people with disabilities rely on plastic straws for food, with alternatives such as bamboo and metal straws often not meeting their needs.

Greg Haraldson from ACT NoWaste said a ban on single-use plastic would help reduce the ACT's environmental footprint.

"The ACT is putting between 240,000 and 300,000 tonnes into landfill each year, and while we're able to recover about 70 per cent of the waste, there's still more work to be done," Mr Haraldson said.

"If you can help to reduce, reuse and recycle, you've looked at the right options from a waste perspective."

The ACT government moved to ban plastic bags across Canberra in 2011, which resulted in a reduction of plastic bag use across the territory.

However, a recent review of the policy found the use of plastic bags were returning to levels seen before the ban was put in place. The review recommended putting a levy or floor price on the plastic bags for customers.

Mr Steel said the community consultations would aim to see if the proposed banned items were the right idea, or whether the list should be expanded to include other products.

"We are taking real action to become Australia's most sustainable city, and we want the community to be part of that," he said.

"We will broaden the way Canberrans can provide us with their view on single-use plastic."