Environmental Policy: Australia's Plastic Straw Bane Campaign Analysis

This report provides an overview of the plastic straw ban campaign in Australia, focusing on the policy environment and the efforts to reduce plastic pollution. It begins with an introduction to environmental policies and the specific context of the plastic straw ban, highlighting the detrimental effects of plastic waste on oceans and marine life. The main body of the report delves into the reasons behind the ban, emphasizing the pollution caused by single-use plastics and the role of the South Australian government in addressing this issue. It also explores the government's authority to implement the ban and the impact of China's waste import ban on Australia's waste management. Furthermore, the report examines the 'Last Straw' campaign, detailing its objectives, strategies, and the involvement of consumers, restaurants, and environmental groups. A power holder map is included to illustrate the influence of various stakeholders, such as the government, consumers, restaurants, environmental groups, and straw manufacturers. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of the campaign in promoting environmental sustainability. The report references relevant books and journals to support its analysis.

Policy Environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Reason of Bane on One Time Usable Plastic..............................................................................1
Role of Government.....................................................................................................................1
Campaign on Straw Bane.............................................................................................................1
Power Holder Map.......................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Environment Policy is the commitment of organization or government towards rules,
regulations, laws and other policies related to environmental issues. Actions and campaign used
by different organization to save the nature and ecosystem are part of environment policies (Barr,
2016). This study is explaining the campaign of plastic straws bane in Australia. The federal
government of Australia has been urged to bane on the plastic product which can be used for one
time.
MAIN BODY
Reason of Bane on One Time Usable Plastic
The South Australian government considered the petition of local people to bane the one
time usable plastic. The reason behind this is, the plastic products like bottles and straws are
polluting the oceans and choking the whales, dolphins and sea turtles. By banning this plastic the
pollution can be prevented. The urge of the local people to bane the plastic products which can
be used only one time and after the use this waste reach to oceans through the waterways and
pollutes them (Faucher, Jackson and Cassidy, 2015). This plastics can';t be recycled and it takes
centuries to decompose. The purpose of this urge is to prevent this ocean pollution and save
marine cycle.
Role of Government
China puts bane on the importation of waste product for recycling and that is causing
problems to the other countries. The issue is, these countries don't have enough dumping ground
for the plastic waste. The Victorian government shows the commitment by take the decision to
bane with in one year. All countries are banning the plastic to save nature and ecosystem but
Australia is falling back (Lyall, 2017). The government have the authority to implement the bane
on plastic straw. By taking strict action use of plastic straw can be prevented.
Campaign on Straw Bane
The campaign runes by the locals of Australia and different environmental groups which
is known as Last Straw. The aim of this campaign is to reduce the use of plastic straws in venues
around Australia. In this campaign consumers and restaurant owner who are using it, are
encouraged to use less plastic. This vision of this campaign is to reduce the use of plastic by
encouraging the restaurants, hotels and customers. A small initiative of a person can play huge
role in plastic bane. This campaign suggests the people to order drinks without straw, share the
1

campaign on social media and support the campaign by providing possible donation to group.
This donation is used in process to run the campaign and removing plastic from water bodies.
Power Holder Map
The power holder map above is presenting the power different bodies holding and how much
they are supporting the Last Straw campaign. The government has high power and also shows
the intent to put bane on plastic straws. The consumer are strongly supporting the campaign but
having less power. Restaurants are supporting the campaign but have neutral power. The
environmental groups are holding some power and highly supporting to this campaign. The only
opposing entity is straw manufacturers and they are also holding some power.
CONCLUSION
This study is concluding the policy environment and plastic bane campaign in Australia.
The purpose and movement of last straw campaign in Australia is evaluated in the study. The
power holder map is also designed to know the power distribution for implementation of
campaign. The importance of campaign has been learned through the report.
2

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barr, S., 2016. Environment and society: Sustainability, policy and the citizen. Routledge.
Faucher, C., Jackson, M. and Cassidy, W., 2015. When online exchanges byte: An examination of the
policy environment governing cyberbullying at the university level. Canadian Journal of Higher
Education. 45(1). pp.102-121.
Lyall, C., 2017. New modes of governance: developing an integrated policy approach to science,
technology, risk and the environment. Routledge.
3