Councils all ears on single-use plastic ban
With Victoria’s ban on single-use plastics coming into effect on 1 February, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) and Sustainability Victoria have been working with Victorian Local Governments to support them to deliver the policy changes at a local level.
From 1 February this year, single-use plastic drinking straws, cutlery, plates, drink stirrers and cotton bud sticks made from conventional, degradable, and compostable plastics will be banned from sale and supply in Victoria. The ban also applies to food service items and drink containers made from expanded polystyrene.
Single-use plastics:
- make up a third of the litter we see in our environment – they are difficult and costly to clean up
- are a poor use of resources – they are often used for only a few minutes and generate significant waste that is not recyclable
- pollute the environment – harming wildlife and contaminating our food and water, this is of particular concern given the toxicity of plastic items and their ability to bioaccumulate
- can often be easily avoided or replaced with reusable products.
The ban applies to businesses and organisations including not-for-profits, government, sports clubs, schools, and others that are incorporated.
It is the responsibility of all Victorian businesses and organisations, including councils, to comply with the Regulations and not sell or supply certain single-use plastic items, including to patrons or customers.
Sustainability Victoria is supporting DEECA in the delivery of the single-use plastic ban providing a complementary focus on increasing reuse across the hospitality industry.
More than 70 councils from across the state attended a recent webinar hosted by Sustainability Victoria with guests from the City of Adelaide and ACT Government discussing their Single Use Plastic (SUP) ban implementation and sharing key learnings.
At the webinar for councils, Sustainability Victoria outlined findings from its engagement program which has reached 3,265 businesses across 31 LGAs. Through direct engagement with the hospitality sector, it found that although 40 per cent of businesses had not heard about the ban 70 per cent are already taking action that will prepare them for the ban.
“Pleasingly we found about 40 per cent of businesses surveyed have no barriers to accepting reusable items. This supports our focus on the uptake of reusables and waste avoidance where possible,” said Matt Genever, Interim CEO Sustainability Victoria.
“We’re encouraging food serving businesses to look at where they sit in the circular economy and how they can drive reuse over single use.
“Re-use has been always a big part of our program. We have implemented the Circular Economy Reuse Pilots Fund which is enabling us to trial reuse options and collect data that will inform other businesses on the feasibility of the reuse in different hospitality settings.”
Nicole Gschwind, Resource Recovery Advisor at the City of Adelaide, shared the journey of the City’s circular economy team. One of the key findings from its work with the hospitality sector was that cafés understand the marketing value of sustainable practices and understand that their customers want those products.
ACT introduced a similar single-use plastic ban in 2021 and Marianne Ching, Waste Avoidance Officer at ACT, found that some businesses still had excess stock when the ban commenced so it's important that business are getting ready for the ban by running down stocks of banned items.
To support councils to communicate with businesses in their community about how the ban will affect them, an Information toolkit has been developed.
Helpful, easy-to-use resources to assist business and organisations to prepare for the ban can be found at Single-use plastics ban resources.
Tips for councils to prepare for the single-use plastic ban in Victoria from 1 February 2023
- Use up any stocks of the banned items council is using. Banned items cannot be sold, supplied or provided from 1 February 2023.
- Have a discussion with suppliers or procurement to find suitable alternatives.
- Proactively support local businesses in their transition to reusables - encourage them to register for a free information session being run by the National Retail Association every Friday at 11:00 am (being run until the end of January). Register for a session.
- Promote through your economic development teams to local traders' associations and business groups.
- Download the information toolkit.