Queensland considering ban on plastic bags to protect endangered marine life

The Queensland government is considering a ban on plastic bags, in a bid to save the lives of endangered marine life.

Animals who encounter discarded plastic bags can be injured, or killed, by accidentally suffocating on the bags and other trash.

Staff at Sea World on the Gold Coast recently helped rehabilitate turtles who had been injured after getting tangled in litter, with one of the creatures requiring a flipper amputation.

Plastic bags, and bottles, made up almost 50 percent of litter removed from south-east rivers in the state last year.

“Queensland is currently the litter capital of the nation,” the state’s environment minister, Steven Miles, said.

The government has said a ban on plastic bags would need to be a collaboration with NSW and Victoria, to ensure the coastline is as litter-free as possible.