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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.