Time to stop it and swap it on more single use plastics

From 1 November, certain problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic items will be banned in NSW. It’s a big win for our environment.

The banned single-use plastic items have been chosen because they are highly littered and there are now readily available sustainable alternatives. Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60% of all litter in NSW.

By ending the use of many single-use items we’ll stop an estimated 2.7 billion plastic items from polluting our lands and waterways over the next 20 years.

We are working closely with retailers and suppliers and all of our stakeholders to share information about the upcoming bans and to help guide and support preparations for these changes.

Bringing our partners together, we successfully hosted the Perspectives on Plastics - Connecting our Partner’s event, in July along with NSW Minister for Environment and Heritage James Griffin. The event explored both industry and community perspectives on this year’s NSW single-use plastics bans.

Minister Griffin spoke about the importance of the bans and of working in partnerships to achieve the best outcomes for all when phasing out of single-use plastics.

We were lucky to have ABC Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis moderate a panel discussion that highlighted the challenges and solutions from the perspectives of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, National Retailers Association, Plastic Free July, and Take 3 for the Sea.

We are delighted to have the support and partnership of many iconic and strong organisations (see the list below) in our quest to phase out single use plastics and to help raise awareness about the plastics ban among their clients, members and volunteers.

See the video of their welcome meeting

Partners in chime on plastics bans

EPA partners include Girl Guides NSW, Green Music Australia, Meals on Wheels, Surfing NSW, Take 3, Green Connect, KU Children's Services, Men's Sheds, NSW Environmental & Zoo Education Centres (EZEC), OzGreen, Plastic Free July, Southern Cross University, Tafe NSW / Addison Road Community Organisation, The Great Plastics Rescue, University of New England, University of Newcastle and University of Wollongong. 

• Read more about their plans

Plastics ban champions

Randwick’s Cat and Cow Café shows how easy it is to operate a business without single-use plastics.

Proprietors Lenka and Jacob Kriz, who migrated from the Czech Republic, are committed to running a zero-waste café. Their positive example has brought their local community together, with more than two thirds of their customers now bringing their own mugs or borrowing one from Cat and Cow’s “Mug Library”.

The café uses recycled cardboard containers and bamboo cutlery for its takeaway service.

“It’s been easy to replace single use plastics with sustainable alternatives. We started three years ago and our customers love it. It’s now just completely normal. We can’t imagine it differently,” says Lenka. 

Lenka explains it is only new customers who take disposable, compostable cups, and they’re encouraged to bring their own next time. They also ask customers ordering takeaway coffees to go ‘topless’ without a lid for the cup.

Lenka and Jacob want to be a part of the solution to plastic pollution.

“We love the ocean and our beautiful natural environment. We’ve just had a baby and when we go walking with him around the coast and see plastic litter and coffee cups on the ground, we can’t unsee it. I want my son to inherit a clean ocean and beautiful beaches,” says Lenka.

“Zero waste is not the future, it’s now.”