The campaign to ban single-use plastic bags has been boosted by the big guns of environmental activism.

Greenpeace New Zealand is stepping up, having launched a video and petition calling on the Government to ban supermarket bags.

Getting plastic bags banned is a world-wide, 10-year strategic aim of the group and campaigns have been running internationally for 18 months. However Greenpeace NZ has decided it's only now that the time is right to push the issue.

"A lot of good work has taken place by local groups," says spokesperson Elena Di Palma. "It's time to add our weight to the argument."

Spiralling out of control

Greenpeace says New Zealanders use around 1.6 billion bags every year. "They're used for an average of only 12 minutes, yet each one can take a thousand years to degrade," says Di Palma. "New Zealand's plastic waste problem is quickly spiralling out of control."

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| A  Newsroom release with Alexia Russell  ||  July 28,  2017   |||