Queensland's Plastic Ban Progress Stalled, Say Experts

A veteran campaigner critical to Queensland's Containers for Change program asserts that the state government has neglected the single-use plastics issue. Although light-weight shopping bags and items like plastic straws were banned in 2018, no new prohibitions have been enacted since September 2023. A single-use plastics roadmap, released in 2022 with four potential bans for September 2024, was paused by the Labor government in May 2022 pending national alignment.

This pause has left Queensland lagging behind other states, according to Toby Hutcheon of the Boomerang Alliance. He notes that items like plastic cups, previously on the roadmap, present a challenge due to a lack of adequate cleaning facilities, impacting trials for reusable cups at stadiums. This issue looms large for the upcoming Olympics, where sustainability policies mandate reusable or recyclable options. While Western Australia uses reusable cups at stadiums, Queensland's Environment Minister, Andrew Powell, has not detailed plans for further bans, stating only that a new waste and recycling strategy will be released this year.

The Boomerang Alliance is currently trialing reusable coffee cups in Port Douglas, a project funded by the state government. Hutcheon emphasizes the need for a large-scale implementation and a ban on plastic-lined coffee cups. Despite promises of a plan to boost recycling and reduce landfill, action on problem plastics appears stalled.