How the NSW plastic strategy could change your daily takeaway coffee

Christopher Thé gives his customers at Hearthe in Stanmore a 50¢ discount if they bring a reusable cup for their coffee.

“It’s to minimise waste … and reduce landfill,” he said. “If we could make it industry standard that all cafes give a discount for a keep cup that would be a good thing.”

Christopher Thé at Hearthe cafe in Stanmore offers a discount for bringing a reusable cup. Credit: Edwina Pickles.

Forcing cafes to accept reusable cups, and standardising the packaging for disposable cups, are among the ideas the NSW government is putting out for consultation on Monday.

Other ideas listed in the NSW Plastics: The Way Forward action plan include banning the release of helium balloons, banning plastic sticks for lollipops in favour of paper or wooden alternatives, banning the plastic ties on bread bags, and tethering lids to plastic bottles accepted in return-and-earn schemes.

Under the Litter Act, people can release 19 helium balloons at one event, but not 20. The NSW government recently blocked an amendment by Greens MP Kobi Shetty to reduce this immediately to zero. The strategy recommends a phase-out by the end of 2025 and also covers plastic balloon sticks, clips and ties.

The strategy, open for consultation until November, also proposes to phase out plastic microbeads from cleaning products by the end of 2025 and to publish a list of chemicals to be phased out of food packaging by the end of 2027.

Reusable coffee cups are among solutions to cut the use of plastics in NSW.Credit: Edwina Pickles

In 2022-23, NSW generated about 891,000 tonnes of plastic waste – almost 110 kilograms a head – but only 14 per cent of that was recycled.

A statement from Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said most of the proposals brought NSW into line with other jurisdictions, which have moved ahead of the state.

“Unless we take action, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish,” Sharpe said. “We all want a healthier environment for humans and animals, with fewer problematic plastics.”

This masthead has recently reported on hotspots for microplastics in Sydney Harbour, especially Manly Cove.

The federal government is also considering bringing in regulations on plastic packaging and is pushing internationally for a strong treaty to curb plastic.

Cafe proprietor Thé estimates one in 10 Hearthe customers brings a reusable cup, but he encourages his regulars as the discount adds up over the week.

But he prefers to see it as a win-win for customers and the cafe rather than needing regulation. He said most cafes had moved on from the COVID-era reluctance to accept reusable cups.

He is more enthusiastic about standardising the design of disposable cups since he is aware of problems in getting clean waste streams for recycling, and that even cups labelled “compostable” or “biodegradable” might need special treatment to break down.

“You can’t regulate people not to use [disposable cups] because it would destroy the cafe industry, but if they mandated that we must use compostable cups that would be good,” he said. “[The cups] need to be not just compostable in an industrial facility, but in someone’s backyard compost as well.”

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