[ECO]Western Australia Ban on Single-Use Coffee Cups

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The Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups makes it the first state in Australia to ban single-use, non-compostable coffee cups.

Like the rest of the world, Australia has to deal with its fair share of plastic usage and waste. One million tonnes of Australia’s annual plastic consumption is single-use plastic, of which 84% is sent to landfills, and only 13% is recycled. By 2050, the amount of plastic consumed in Australia will more than double. Luckily, Australia’s states are working to reduce their plastic usage and waste.

Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups

Early this year, Western Australia announced that it would be implementing the Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups. Under the ban, businesses that fail to comply will face a fine of up to $25,000, and individuals will face a fine of $5000.

Coffee shops can sell compostable paperboard cups as long as the lids are made from either paper or a by-product of sugarcane called bagasse. Customers are also encouraged to bring their own reusable

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. Disposable paper or fiber cups lined or coated with plastic or bioplastic where the whole cup has achieved the *********** Standard for industrial composting or home compositing are exempt from the Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups.

The ban is an effort to significantly reduce the 154 million coffee cups used in Western Australia every year, many of which end up in landfills or littered because it is so difficult to separate the plastic lining from the cardboard cup for recycling.  

Western Australia’s Plan for Plastics

The Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups is the second phase of Western Australia’s

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. Stage 1 included a ban on single-use and disposable plastic items, including plates, unlidded containers, cutlery, straws, thick plastic shopping bags and more. As of July 1, 2022, supplying all plastic shopping bags with handles and even releasing a balloon into the air became ********.

In addition to the ban on single-use coffee cups, Stage 2 regulations ban the ***** and supply of produce bags, cotton buds with plastic stems, degradable plastics, and more. Supplying microbeads in rinse-off personal care, cosmetic and cleaning products is also ********. The final part of the ban will be implemented in July 2025, when it will be ******** to supply expanded plastic packaging (moulded, cut or shaped).

The entire Plan for Plastics has been created with consultation from the people of Western Australia. Feedback from the consultation found that 98 per cent of respondents support further actions to reduce single-use plastics in Western Australia. Moreover, within the Plan for Plastics document, readers (both businesses and individuals) are provided with examples of non-plastic alternatives they can use, what items are exempt from the ban and how they adjust to the bans once they are implemented.

The Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups is leading the pack in reducing plastic waste. South Australia plans to remove the ***** of single-use coffee cups in September, while New South Wales and Victoria have yet to commit to a ban.

Change is coming in Australia; some states are experiencing more rapid changes than others. By summer 2025, single-use plastic in Western Australia will become a rarity. The bans on single-use plastics force businesses to develop sustainable and innovative ways to serve their products. We have depended on plastic for so long, but many alternatives exist, and due to the bans, they will become more mainstream.

With the Western Australia ban on single-use coffee cups, Australia is showing us how a world without single-use plastic is possible, and it might encourage more cities, states, and countries to follow suit and become a plastic-free world.

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