The crown casino in Melbourne will begin phasing out plastic cutlery, straws and bags throughout the casino.

The policy, which will be launched next month, will be extended to all areas including food courts, casinos, hotels, retail stores and bars.

Other major complexes such as the shopping centre and hotel chains are now expected to follow suit.

This is because the Victoria state council tightened its plastic policy and set new environmental waste standards.

A spokeswoman for crown, Natasha Stipanov, said customers could ask staff for plastic straws if they wanted them, but the casino's goal was to get rid of them altogether.

"Crown recognises that the process of phasing out single-use plastic will take several years and we are at the beginning of the journey." She said.

Plastic bottles, cutlery, straws and shopping bags will be phased out from next month.

It is understood that the crown casino will not order more products after the current inventory runs out, and will seek more environmentally friendly options.

Bans on single-use plastic products continue to gain momentum, with some city councils in Victoria banning the use of plastic cups, styrofoam, single-use food containers, over-packaged goods and straws at city-sponsored events.

Most markets have banned balloons and are fighting to reduce their impact on the environment.

Woolworths and Coles will both ban plastic bags from next month.

Consumers at both supermarkets will now be forced to carry their own shopping bags, or pay 15c for thicker, reusable plastic bags, or 99c for canvas bags.

The South Melbourne Market has phased out plastic bags. On the surf coast, Bells Beach Rip Curl Pro has a plastic-free policy for suppliers that transfers 65% of their waste from landfills.

According to the law, local municipalities cannot ban the sale or distribution of single-use plastic products. But many municipalities have also launched education campaigns for local shops and businesses to reduce the use of single-use plastic products.

Port Phillip mayor Bernadene Voss said: "the city government will strengthen its commitment to reducing all single-use plastics in our activities and advocate for action by the Victoria and federal governments on single-use plastics."

Source: 3cw Chinese radio Australia