Most major sports stadiums and festivals in Australia still offer their customers drinks and takeaway food in wasteful and polluting single use plastic cups and containers. And it’s a complete waste of money when reusables could be offered instead, according to the Boomerang Alliance’s campaign manager Toby Hutcheon
“Australia needs to catch up with proven alternatives. For example, at the recent European Football Championships in Germany and at the Paris Olympics in France, spectators were provided drinks and food in reusable cups and containers, not plastic cups and containers,” he said.
He said that initial estimates by Olympic organisers suggest that the event halved plastic use compared to the London Olympics in 2012. Both of those countries (Germany and France) have introduced regulations to reduce single-use cups and containers and promote reusables.
“Last week at Robina Stadium on the Gold Coast, the Socceroos played Bahrain in a World cup qualifier. Leaving aside the disappointing result, our frustration was that spectators were still being served their drinks and food in single-use cups, cans containers,” said Hutcheon.
“Major stadiums and events are the easiest places to make the switch to reuse and every Government should require all major events to switch to reusables, and as soon as practical.”
He said that the Alliance knows from experience that switching to reusable cups and containers at events is possible. The RAC Arena in Perth, the Woodford Festival in Queensland, the Australian Tennis Open in Melbourne and some NRL and AFL stadiums have done so recently. Cup trials have been completed at Queensland stadiums and countless community events around the country are already doing it. There are many other examples, he said.