An initiative to drive away from single use coffee cups with a reusable takeaway cup program is gaining momentum in Noosa after a successful trial at Noosa Eat and Drink festival followed by a pilot at Noosa Aquatic Centre.
The simple solution, born out of conversations between staff at Noosa Council, Tourism Noosa and Plastic free Noosa, involves customers paying a $3 deposit for a reusable takeaway cup that can be returned to any participating cafe in Australia to get the deposit back.
The startup cost for businesses is low and there is evidence that there is a very quick return on investment and cost savings for businesses over time, council staff reported in December council meetings.
Council endorsed its support of the Single Use Coffee Cups Program focused on education, business support, and behaviour change and for council to lead by example in its own operations.
A report delivered to council meetings revealed that together with council staff, Plastic Free Noosa has outlined an action plan for reducing single use coffee cups in three phases which requires a budget allocation of $5,600 and council staff time of approximately 2-3hrs per week over the next six months. This program will continue to be led by the Plastic Free Noosa program – part of Tourism Noosa – with support from council staff.
Council staff proposed to work closely with Tourism Noosa to prioritise the $5600 required to initiate the program through their FY25-26 budget. Should the required amount of budget be unavailable, it is recommended that potentially a small allocation of funds within Council’s existing sustainability operational budget be utilised to support initiation of this program.
A pilot commenced at the Noosa Aquatic Centre in 2025 July with extremely positive feedback and other business are now looking to take up the same approach, council staff reported.
“It is acknowledged that single use food and beverage items, like coffee cups, do not represent a large volume of waste to landfill,” the report showed.
“However, they are an iconic, highly visible waste item that can serve as a catalyst for the transition away from generating waste after only one use of new material.
The transition requires behaviour change from both businesses and consumers. While not every business will be ready for the transition, it is proposed to work with the willing to begin to build a culture of reuse that is accessible and affordable for customers and businesses alike.”
The transition from single use plastics has been underway for many years with Noosa Shire adopting its first Plastic Free program pre-Covid. Through the environment grants program, council has also funded Tourism Noosa for a number of years to roll out the Plastic Free Noosa program.
