NSW Minister for Environment James Griffin said the lightweight plastic bag ban is the first of many plastic items being banned in NSW this year.

"I think all of us can see the impact plastic pollution is having on our environment, which is why we're making major changes in NSW this year," Mr Griffin said.

"The ban on lightweight single-use bags comes into place from June 1, and then from November, we're banning more problematic plastics, such as cutlery and plates.

"Single-use plastic is used by many of us for just a few convenient minutes, but it remains in our environment for many years, eventually breaking into microplastics."

The state government passed the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021 in November, and introduced the Plastics Action Plan last year which will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment in NSW over the next 20 years.

In addition to the 1 June lightweight plastic bag ban, from November the NSW Government is banning single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups, rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads.

So-called "compostable" and "bioplastic" alternatives to the above items are also being banned because they don't biodegrade unless they're treated in an industrial composting facility, creating just as much of a problem as conventional plastic items.