Minimise single-use items
What are single-use items?
Single-use items or disposable items are products and packaging that we throw out after only one use. These items are used for only minutes but their impact on our environment can last thousands of years.
Even when these items are recyclable, we use up energy and our environment’s natural resources to produce these easily-avoidable items.
Avoid first
What’s better than reusing or recycling an item? Avoiding it in the first place.
Ask yourself, do you really need it? And if the answer is no, then avoid it.
Single-use plastics ban
Victoria will be phasing out problematic single-use plastics.
The ban includes:
- cotton buds
- cutlery
- drink stirrers
- food containers and cups made from expanded polystyrene
- plates
- straws.
These single-use items often end up in our environment, harming wildlife, waterways and oceans.
The ban will come into effect by February 2023. Government departments will lead the way by phasing out items by February 2022.
Read about the single-use plastics ban
Alternatives to these items are already available for you to use.
Balloons
Balloons often end up in our waterways and have become one of the most harmful pollutants threatening marine wildlife.
Learn more
Disposable coffee cups
Australians consume more than 50,000 cups of coffee every half hour and, for now at least, the disposable cups can't be recycled.
Learn more
Disposable dinnerware
After being used for only a few minutes, disposable dinnerware ends up in landfill or worse, as litter on our streets or in our parks.
Learn more
Disposable masks
Eco-friendly alternatives to disposable face masks.
Learn more
Junk mail
Junk mail accounts for 6% of Australia’s total paper usage. That adds up to 240,000 tonnes of paper every single year.
Learn more
Plastic bags
Australians use around 10 million plastic bags every day, but even though soft plastics can now be recycled, only 3% of those bags are currently being recycled.
Learn more
Plastic cotton buds
Plastic cotton buds are one of the most problematic litter items found on beaches across the world.
Learn more
Plastic straws
Plastic straws are one of the most common items found on beaches all over the world. If you really need a straw, there are great sustainable alternatives available.
Learn more
Plastic water bottles
Australians buy almost 15 billion plastic bottles every year and most of these end up in landfill or in our waterways.
Learn more
Polystyrene food containers and cups
Disposable food containers and cups made from expanded polystyrene can’t be readily recycled and, after only a few minutes’ use, will end up piling up in landfills.
Learn more
