Niue Tourism chief executive Felicity Bollen said the country had set aside the next 12 months to wean itself off the habit of a lifetime.  Niue’s tourism chief said: “Vanuatu had to adjust its schedule for introducing the ban because the initial time frame it set of less than six months was too tight.” Ms Bollen said a year will give Niue enough time to embed a change in culture.

Ms Bollen said Niue had learned from the experience of Vanuatu which implemented a ban on single-use plastic bags, straws and polystyrene boxes on 1 July. Niue is a small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. It’s known for its limestone cliffs and coral-reef dive sites. Migrating whales swim in Niue’s waters between July and October. In the southeast is the Huvalu Forest Conservation Area, where trails through fossilized coral forests lead to the Togo and Vaikona chasms.  “The way that we’re going to do it is with the assistance of the governments of Niue and New Zealand. “We’re actually going to provide substitute bags for every family on Niue. We will be providing them with reusable organic bags for every household. We’re looking at four per household,” she said. Along with Vanuatu and Niue, Papua New Guinea and Samoa have also announced plans to ban single-use plastic bags.