The New South Wales Government says it will not rush into banning plastic bags, despite pressure from the Opposition and the Greens.

Key points: Labor and Greens call for ban of single-use plastic bags

Labor and Greens call for ban of single-use plastic bags Government to consider all options before ban

Government to consider all options before ban Biodegradable bags may not be the solution, Environment Minister says

Earlier this week, Labor and the Greens both introduced bills into Parliament calling on the Government to ban single-use plastic bags, commonly found in grocery stores.

Labor MP Penny Sharpe said "the Government has been dragging their heels on this".

She called for the Government to stop the "61 million plastic bags finding their way into our marine environment and rivers across the state".

"New South Wales has been derelict in our duty if we're serious about dealing with plastic pollution in our marine environment," Ms Sharpe said.

"[The] plastic bags ban works in two other states and two other territories. New South Wales should just step up and ban the bags."

It is Australia's four smallest jurisdictions — Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and ACT — who have banned single-use plastic bags.

However, Environment Minister Mark Speakman said total bans were not in place in those areas.

"There's an exemption for biodegradable bags," he said.

Biodegradable bags 'may actually be worse'

Mr Speakman said the use of biodegradable bags came with its own complications.

"There's increasing scientific evidence that would suggest that biodegradable bags aren't any better than ordinary single use plastic bags and indeed could be worse because they take on average 40 days to physically biodegrade," he said.

"As they biodegrade, their surface area expands, toxins adhere to the surface area.

"So, it may actually be worse to be having biodegradable bags than ordinary plastic bags."

Mr Speakman said the issue of how to reduce plastic bag pollution would be discussed at a roundtable he was co-hosting with his Queensland counterpart at Taronga Zoo on Monday.

And he said the Government would not rush into a ban.

"There's no proposal [for a ban] before Government at the moment," he said.

"What we're hoping to do is explore practical solutions ... to plastic bag solution," he said.

The Environment Minister said the Government would consider all options available to it, including a ban, a levy or another appropriate course of action.