Dr McGirr said a lot of people will be "disappointed" if the NSW Government does not come up with a comprehensive legislation on single use plastics after Coalition MPs blocked Labor's bill.

The Plastic Shopping Bags (Prohibition on Supply by Retailers) Bill passed the upper house but was voted down in the lower house last week.

The bill had sought to "prohibit retailers from supplying certain single-use plastic shopping bags to their customers to carry goods bought, or to be bought, from the retailer".

Dr McGirr said the concept behind the bill had the support of "a lot of people, like many members of the government including the Environment Minister".

"This legislation was similar to what has been introduced in other states, so in principle it was something that I would support," Dr McGirr said.

"The minister's reason for not supporting it was that he was going to introduce a more comprehensive bill, which would include plastic cutlery for example.

"I don't see why this bill couldn't have gone through in the meantime as it has been some years now that this issue has been around and I would hope the government would treat it with a bit more urgency."

Wagga's major supermarkets have taken steps to encourage shoppers to re-use bags for more than 12 months, including a 15 cent charge for plastic bags.

Dr McGirr said he was confident that smaller retailers would be able to cope with any future ban on single-use bags.

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Climate Action Wagga president Patricia Murray welcomed Dr McGirr's vote for the ban but said it was a "big disappointment that the government had not followed the lead of other areas like the ACT".

"Something has to be done to stop all the plastic from getting into the ocean," she said.

"You just get used to using (reusable bags)."

Environment Minister Matt Kean has said he wants to "ban the bag" but it was just one part of the "bigger challenge" of plastic pollution.

A discussion paper on banning single-use plastics could be taken to cabinet by the end of the year.

Dr McGirr said the new legislation would have to be more wide-ranging than the defeated bill otherwise the government would have been "playing politics" and "not backed it just because the opposition backed it".

Dr Murray said she wished Parliament would "ignore politics for once and just get something done".

"All the plastic wrapping that you see nowadays on fruit and vegetables is perhaps a bigger concern."

Dr Murray said she wished Parliament would "ignore politics for once and just get something done".