Greens councillor John Mackenzie has put his support behind the movement, and stated “the issue of plastic pollution is crucial in New South Wales”.

Cr Mackenzie pointed out New South Wales is the last state in Australia not to commit to a total ban on plastic bags.

“We’re in this extraordinary situation where all major states are committed to banning the bag – except New South Wales,” Cr John Mackenzie said. “Coles, Woolworths, Aldi … all have [also] committed to reducing their plastic consumption.”

“The problem is decades old, we’ve known for a long time about the impact of plastic pollution, particularly on our marine environment and the marine food chain. It’s a toxic legacy, and something that we’re leaving for future generations to clean up.”

Cr Mackenzie believes the removal of plastic bags, and the movement of the ‘Ban the Bag’ campaign, is the best way to keep the environment and food chain flourishing.

“The best way to clean up plastic is to stop it at the source, and that means getting rid of the disposal plastic idea that we have. Making sure that we’re cutting back on things that we don’t really need to be using plastic for – plastic bags and disposable plastic items,” he said.

“Almost a third of marine life are contaminated from plastic pollution, and a recent study found that 83 per cent of drinking water samples contained micro-plastic.”

For Cr Mackenzie, the focus must be on alternatives, an important move as Newcastle embraces a new “no-plastic” future.

“The average bag gets about 12 minutes use, and then it lasts 1000 years after that, so we’re asking people to mindful and come up with alternatives,” he said.

“We want to minimise and break that addiction to disposal plastic – there are plenty of alternatives … that means that we don’t have to rely on plastic and we can stop that plastic legacy, right at the source.”

Newcastle joins a growing body of councils that are calling for the state ban, with major councils like Tweed, Nambuca, Northern Beaches, Lismore and Kyogle already involved in the movement.