As of June 1, the NSW Government's ban on single-use plastic bags will be in force, but Westpoint and Trinity Heights IGA owner Hamish Thompson said his stores have already been using reusable bags for some time and he's noticed a difference.

With customers having to pay for bags, many now bring their own to reuse.

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"We're charging customers 10 cents a bag [and] until that was happening you'd ask them if they wanted a bag and they'd always say yes but now you ask them and they have to pay for it," he said.

"It makes them think twice and that's been the best thing.

"They have to build awareness and make people more responsible so they don't just drive the car along and throw it out the window."

Meanwhile, the ban on plastics will expand come November with a longer list of items that will no longer be available in stores.

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The government will ban single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.

Alternative items deemed to be "compostable" and "bioplastic" will also be banned, because they don't biodegrade unless they're treated in an industrial composting facility which creates just as much of a problem.

The ban is expected to prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the NSW environment over the next 20 years.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said plastic pollution clearly has a negative impact on the environment.

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"We each have the power to make positive environmental change at an individual level, and I encourage everyone to choose to go plastic-free as often as they can," Mr Griffin said.

"Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60 per cent of all litter in NSW.

"By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we're helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill."

Mr Thompson said while there's other environmental issues like greenhouse gases, all forms of pollution should be addressed.

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