Hobart City Council has voted 8-4 in favour of a by-law that could see the city become the nation's first to ban single-use plastics by 2020.

Key points: The ban covers plastics like cutlery, sauce sachets, straws and takeaway cup lids

The ban covers plastics like cutlery, sauce sachets, straws and takeaway cup lids The council has asked the Government to consider implementing a state-wide ban on single use plastics

The council has asked the Government to consider implementing a state-wide ban on single use plastics Small Business Council says it "smacks of arrogance"

The ban would apply to any business that provides or sells takeaway food, meaning plastic containers, straws, coffee cups and plastic lids would all be prohibited.

Under the changes, businesses within the Hobart municipality will need to start phasing out single-use plastics, moving towards re-useable or compostable packaging.

Councillor Bill Harvey led the push within council walls and said Hobart City Council had set the bar for other local governments to follow suit.

"What that says is that we're serious about leading by example and we're a council that takes the initiative, that makes bold decisions and this is one of those decisions that will have impacts for councils across Australia," he said.

"We've set a precedent that now hopefully many other councils will follow."

But the by-law has a few hurdles it still needs to pass, with the entire statutory process unlikely to wrap up for at least six to nine months.

Last night's decision will now be put to the Director of Local Government for further consideration, then a public consultation period for 21 days, before council eventually enacts the by-law.

'Completely ridiculous': business council

The CEO of the Tasmanian Small Business Council said local businesses were not consulted before last night's vote.

Robert Mallett said the Hobart City Council's move "smacks of arrogance". ( Supplied: Tasmanian Liberals )

Robert Mallett said he was concerned for small businesses, adding the strategy would be better adopted by the State Government, similar to the 2013 plastic bag ban.

"That was done in a coordinated and well-managed event by the Tasmanian Government and I see no reason why they couldn't do something similar.

"For individual councils to try and pick off this and be seen as greener or something than the next one is completely ridiculous."

Mr Mallett added while he was not against banning single-use plastics, the cost of changing to more expensive products would put some Hobart businesses at a disadvantage.

"I don't think it will be too difficult to transition but it would definitely be more costly which then puts Hobart businesses at a price disadvantage against some of their neighbours at Kingborough, Glenorchy or Clarence," he said.

"To make it a law and to have somebody like the Hobart City Council demand that this occur is just smacks of arrogance in many ways."

Plastic straws can easily make their way into the ocean. ( ABC Radio Melbourne: Simon Leo Brown )

Alderman Simon Behrakis agreed small businesses would be hit hard.

"I think ultimately large businesses like McDonald's, like Woolworths, even some of the larger local businesses are able to absorb these costs, but I think some of the smaller businesses, corner stores … takeaways run by a husband and a wife and no employees, they're the ones that are going to suffer from this," he said.

Alderman Behrakis said a small business owner had approached him with concerns about the long-term impact it would have on his store.

"Just plastic knives and forks alone is going to cost him almost $12,000 a year more," he said.

Some businesses already on-board

Alesha Peckels is co-owner of Hobart cafe Bury Me Standing, which has been plastic-free for the past seven years.

Alesha Peckles and her husband Cohen Bassingthwaite factor the cost of recyclable containers into their prices. ( Facebook: Bury Me Standing )

She acknowledged there was an extra cost on the business and customer.

"Like an 8-ounce cup and lid is probably 10 or 12 cents (extra)," Ms Peckels said.

"We pay about 20 cents, 22 cents and we factor that additional 10 cents, obviously, into our pricing.

"And yeah it would add up if we did not do that. So the small business, you have to take it seriously with your costs," she said.

Trish Haeusler from Plastic Free Launceston welcomed the push to make Hobart single-use plastic free, and said efforts were already underway in Tasmania's second-largest city.

"I'm finding I'm going into businesses and it's already happened," she said.

"So a lot of small businesses are already onto this because they know customers are demanding it."

'There's no downside'

Hobart City Council has written to Environment Minister Elise Archer to request the State Government implement a state-wide plastic ban.

Single-use plastics are often dumped rather than recycled. ( ABC Radio Darwin: Jesse Thompson )

But Alderman Harvey said research shows businesses would not be at a price point disadvantage if they make the switch to compostable packaging.

Last year the Hobart Aquatic Centre found costs associated with changing to environmentally friendly packaging were less than one per cent of annual turnover.

"Voluntary phase-outs don't work, so if you give people an option to do it or not, most people won't be bothered doing it," Alderman Harvey said.

"What we've done is make sure that people see the value in this, that we help them transition to something that's more sustainable."

"There's no downside to doing this."