‘Nothing seems to be happening’: Is Queensland falling behind on plastic bans?

Single-use plastics have become a forgotten issue for the Queensland government, according to a veteran campaigner who was central to the implementation of the Containers for Change program.

Light-weight shopping bags were banned in 2018. Other banned items include plastic straws, plates, cutlery, and cotton buds with plastic stems, but no new bans have been brought in since September 2023.

Four more possible bans in September 2024 had been part of a single-use plastics road map released in 2022, which the Labor government paused in May that year to wait for a national meeting to align states on the issue.

By the time that meeting occurred, they had lost the 2024 state election.

Toby Hutcheon from the Boomerang Alliance, which represents 55 environmental groups across Australia, said Queensland was falling behind other states.

“Nothing seems to be happening with phasing out the next tranche of problem single-use plastics,” he said.

The Boomerang Alliance began in the early 2000s, advocating for a return system for cans, which would eventually become Containers for Change.

One item on the nixed road map was plastic cups. In 2023, Stadiums Queensland ran a successful trial for reusable cups at a few of their stadiums and were keen to implement it, but they hit a snag: there is no facility in Queensland that can clean that many cups.

That could become an issue when the Olympics come to town due to sustainability policies for the event. Reusable cups were used at the Paris Olympics, and the organisers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games have committed to all cups and food trays being reusable, recyclable or compostable at local facilities.

Environment Minister Andrew Powell, who was recently made the Olympics minister too, refused to answer direct questions about reusable cups or further single-use plastic bans, but said the government was working on a new waste and recycling strategy that will be released this year.

Reusable cups are already being used at major stadiums in Western Australia, and Hutcheon said other states were moving on with banning single-use plastics, while Queensland has stood still.

He said bans on supermarket plastics like produce bags, fruit stickers and polystyrene trays are all important next steps, but plastics that more commonly create litter and can break down into microplastics are essential.

“A key one is coffee cups and plastic cups, particularly those that are used away from home,” he said.

The Boomerang Alliance is currently running a trial in Port Douglas, where reusable coffee cups at cafes on the main street can be