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The Dunedin City Council supports banning single-use plastic shopping bags from next year but wants any ban to include biodegradable and compostable plastic bags too.
In its submission on the Government's proposed ban, the council has asked all plastic shopping bags be included.
The submission was approved at the economic development committee meeting on Tuesday, but not all councillors supported the inclusion of biodegradable and compostable plastic bags.
Cr Lee Vandervis said he would have supported the submission had it not included biodegradable and compostable bags.
Councillors voted 9 to 1 to support the submission.
Cr Vandervis said it was short-sighted and technophobic to include plant-based bags which were widely used in other parts of the world, such as Europe.
But council solid waste senior strategy and policy officer Catherine Irvine said New Zealand did not have the technical capabilities to dispose of biodegradable and compostable plastics correctly yet, which was why they were included.
Cr Aaron Hawkins said the question of how to define plastic was legitimate, but it was not the end of the world if people had to use a more sustainable type of bag to carry their groceries in the future.
In its submission, the council said any ban would have a greater impact on those earning lower incomes and it was important that was mitigated.
A plastic shopping bag ban would help Dunedin achieve its goal of becoming a zero waste city, the submission said.