Barrier Bag Design Standard – Update

From 1 September 2025, all barrier bags provided in Western Australia must comply with a mandatory design standard as part of Stage 2 of WA’s Plan for Plastics. This update outlines the key requirements and considerations for affected businesses.

What’s Changing

Barrier bags used for loose fresh produce, dry goods, meat, seafood, and dairy products will be required to meet new compostability and design standards. The intent of the change is to reduce single-use plastic waste and improve the compatibility of bags with Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) processing systems.

Mandatory Design Standard (Effective 1 September 2025)

Under the new requirements, all barrier bags must:

• Be certified compostable to either:
  • AS 4736 (industrial composting) or
  • AS 5810 (home composting)
• A green tinting pigment may be applied to the bag film, but it is not mandatory. Untinted (clear) bags are also acceptable under the standard.
• Display the ABA compostable logo and certification number
• Be non-opaque (i.e. clear or semi-transparent)
• Have no handles
• Have a minimum opening circumference of 740 mm, as defined by manufacturer specifications (manufacturing tolerances excluded).

These requirements are aimed at ensuring compostable barrier bags are readily identifiable and usable in household and commercial organics systems.

Recommended Design Features

While not mandatory, the following features are recommended to improve system compatibility and support best practice:

• Approximate 8-litre capacity (to align with typical kitchen caddy volumes)
• A green tint or bands to assist with visual identification during organics processing

Retailers are encouraged to consider these features when sourcing compliant products.

More Information

The standard supports the reduction of approximately 115 million plastic barrier bags per year across WA. It also improves organics recovery by reducing contamination in FOGO systems and enabling household reuse as caddy liners.

This initiative is part of the broader WA Plan for Plastics, designed to phase out problem single-use plastics and transition toward more sustainable packaging alternatives.

The full design standard can be accessed here:
WA Government: Barrier Bag Design Standard – May 2025 (PDF)