The Boomerang Alliance has welcomed the release of the NSW Plastic Plan 2.0, which includes the scaling up of public place reuse, and has set the agenda for other State and Territory Governments to follow. The alliance is calling on all Australian State and Territory Governments to follow the NSW lead and introduce policies that promote reuse, starting with reusable cups and containers in public places. Reusable cups and food containers in the public place need to become the norm in Australia.
The NSW EPA and Sustainability Victoria with Boomerang have recently hosted successful business Reuse Roundtables that demonstrated significant interest in such a switch.
The NSW Government Plastics Plan proposes:
- Reuse cup systems at stadiums, other public venues and in government and corporate offices;
- that fast food and cafes also accept /offer reuse cups; and
- the establishment of a reuse-only precinct in the Sydney CBD
Toby Hutcheon, campaign manager from Boomerang Alliance, said similar initiatives have already being introduced in Europe and also make sense in Australia. Most sports stadiums, large festivals and events are places where reuse systems could be introduced. He said the NSW Plastics Plan supports these initiatives, gives more policy certainty and, importantly, promotes reusable systems that can be effective in public places.
“The switch to reuse makes sense. It reduces costs, GHG emissions, water use and single-use plastic waste. It is popular with spectators, as long as reuse systems are user-friendly and ensure cups and containers are collected, washed and reused at future events,’’ Hutcheon said.
Government policies overseas have made reuse mainstream.
As a result of government policies in Germany, all football stadiums in the Bundesliga provide spectators with reusable cups. All cafes of a certain size have initiated reuse services for their customers. Similar government policies have been introduced in France, the Netherlands and the UK.
City-wide cup reuse systems are currently active in Aarhus (Denmark), Berlin (Germany) Lisbon (Portugal) and Wellington (New Zealand).
The Boomerang Alliance has identified over 40 locations in Australia where reuse is being implemented. They include stadiums, offices, large venues and festivals.
However, they have only been achieved when government has intervened (Western Australia) or through the actions of progressive businesses and organisations.
In Australia, both Optus Stadium and the RAC Arena in Perth have switched to reuse as a result of policies introduced by the WA Government. Venues who have acted include GWS Giants at Engie Stadium (NSW), the Australian Open (VIC) and festivals such as WOMAD (SA), Woodford (QLD) and Dark MOFO (Tas) who all provide reusable cups.
In coming years, Australia will host the Women’s Asian Football Cup in (2026), Netball World Cup (2027) Men’s Rugby World Cup (2027), Women’s Rugby World Cup (2029) World Masters Games (2029) and the Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics (2032). Other major events, concerts and festivals will be taking place in this period.
‘There will be an expectation that Australian stadiums and venues will have caught up with best practices and have switched to reuse by