It’s a sombre start to the new financial year, as Sydney faces yet another week of lashing rain and floods. It is mind-boggling to think that the last flood event was only three months ago. It is our deepest hope that after today the rain will ease and those affected can also start to assess and clean up the damage.
Being aware of assistance available to you and actioning a few critical steps as soon as possible after natural disasters play a huge role in ensuring your business recovers quickly and losses are minimised. I encourage any of our members who have been affected by the floods to phone us on 1800 RETAIL for advice on managing your employees and lease.
It is no secret that climate change is causing these flood events to happen at ever closer intervals. Retail, as an industry, has been keen to adopt more sustainable practices. This is why we are delighted to see that the Queensland Government has adopted a world first roadmap to phasing out single use plastics, which includes enshrining the National Retail Association Shopping Bag Ban Pact into law.
The National Shopping Bag Ban Pact is a voluntary code developed and signed by thousands of retailers and suppliers and is an industry-led approach to a consistent and sensible phasing out of single-use plastic bags. It is a massive win, as a peak body, to have a government recognise our pact and adopt it.
The next step for the pact will be adoption on a national level – so watch this space.
In other news, the WA Plastics Ban came into effect on Friday last week. Our Policy team has been on the ground in WA for six months, rolling out an education campaign with the support of the WA Government. It is now prohibited to supply any plastic shopping bag, disposable plastic utensils or foodware, and expanded polystyrene foodware. If you have questions regarding this ban, please phone our dedicated hotline at (08) 6364 7000 or visit https://www.plasticsbanwa.com.au
All the best for the week and keep well.
Dominique Lamb
Chief Executive Officer