Reports say a Senate committee will soon call for bans on microbeads and single-use plastic bags.

The ban is expected to come as a result an inquiry into the threat of marine plastic pollution in Australia.

The report containing a range of recommendations is due this week.

“If the states aren't going to get on and do this there is a role for the Federal Government to say; ‘This process has failed through COAG and we need to look at a national scheme’,” committee member Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson told reporters ahead of the release.

The Federal Government has planned a voluntary phase-out of microbeads, but the committee is expected to call for an immediate ban.

The Commonwealth has pledged to impose its own ban on microbeads next year, if voluntary measures do not work.

There is also talk of setting up container deposit schemes in all states and territories.

While they have significant environmental and social benefits, container recycling scheme are so strongly opposed by soft drink lobbies that they very rarely get off the ground.

But some conservationists say schemes are already in progress, with announcements expected soon from New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT.