With reusable cups now being provided at both Optus and RAC Arena in Perth, the Boomerang Alliance has welcomed proposed regulations in NSW. Amendments to the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Bill include making it an offence to:

• sell a takeaway beverage without offering or supplying a reusable cup or cup scheme for the beverage
• charging a fee for a reusable cup supplied by a customer

The most obvious places to introduce a reusable cup system are at stadiums and major events where customers have the opportunity to return cups for reuse. This legislation, when passed, will mean that major locations will need to switch to reuse.

This legislation is similar to laws introduced in Germany, where every stadium in the Bundesliga (that's 52 clubs) provides reuse cups. The same services are provided at large events and festivals.

Last week, the Boomerang Alliance team, Jeff Angel, Toby Hutcheon, Birte Moliere, and Sara Gibson, travelled to Canberra to advocate for urgent national packaging reform. Their mission: to push for legislation that holds producers responsible for the packaging they put into the market and present an Open Letter signed by over 10,000 Australians to the Minister for the Environment, Senator Murray Watt. With all names included, the letter resembled a thick book, and Minister Watt personally acknowledged the overwhelming public support for reform.

Broad Political Support for Reform

The team met with MPs and Senators across parties, including Independents Sophie Scamps, Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, Monique Ryan, Nicolette Boele, David Pocock, Labor MPs Jodie Belyea and Alicia Payne, and Senator Peter Whish-Wilson. Discussions focused on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, mandatory targets for reduction, reuse, recycling, and recycled content, and strategies to ensure reforms would not negatively impact cost of living.

Most politicians acknowledged the problems caused by wasteful packaging and expressed support for government action, reflecting our YouGov survey results showing 73% of Australians support producer responsibility for packaging.

Joint Press Conference

A key moment of the visit was a joint press conference with Dr Sophie Scamps and Kate Chaney, where the Boomerang Alliance team showcased 10–12 kilograms of plastic waste—the average monthly packaging waste produced by each Australian household. The demonstration highlighted the scale of the problem and the urgent need for systemic change.

Why Packaging Reform Matters

Australians use over 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging each year, with more than one million tonnes ending up as landfill or litter. Since 1999, voluntary schemes have failed to meet national targets: less than 20% of plastic packaging is recycled, less than 8% of new plastic packaging contains recycled content, and 40% of problem plastics remain in use.

Extended Producer Responsibility shifts the burden from households and local councils to the producers themselves, ensuring better packaging design, higher recycling rates, and a stronger circular economy. Container Refund Schemes currently operating across Australia are a successful example of this approach in action.

Government Progress and Next Steps

Environment Ministers met on 27 March, confirming a national approach to packaging reform. Their communique indicated officials will work on intergovernmental agreements to deliver consistent product stewardship arrangements for packaging and batteries.

While bureaucratic in tone, this signals real progress. The Boomerang Alliance will continue advocating for:

• Comprehensive EPR legislation covering the full lifecycle of packaging
• Mandatory national targets for reduction, reuse, recycling, and recycled content
• Immediate rollout of a national, producer-funded soft plastics collection scheme

All the political, industry, and public ducks are lined up. Now it’s time for the Government to act decisively and implement meaningful packaging reform.

For more information, please see our media release here. 

Hundreds of volunteer mystery shoppers have revealed that buying plastic-free fresh produce often comes at a higher cost, with loose items more expensive than their pre-packaged equivalents in 73% of cases.

The findings, published today in the third annual Unwrapped Audit, also highlight the inconsistent and limited options for Australians buying groceries online, factors that could unintentionally increase plastic use.

The audit, conducted by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and the Boomerang Alliance (BA), also found that Australia’s largest supermarkets are failing to address the nation’s growing plastic pollution crisis. Around 140,000 tonnes of plastic enter the Australian environment every year, with packaging accounting for 58% of litter collected.

Big supermarkets failing on plastic reduction

The audit assessed Australia’s four major supermarket groups: Woolworths, Coles, ALDI, and Metcash (IGA, Foodland, Friendly Grocer, and Eziway), across five areas: transparency, plastic reduction, reuse, recycling, and policy, planning, and governance.

• Woolworths scored 38%

• Metcash 26%

• Coles 19%

• ALDI 14%

While Woolworths and Metcash have made notable improvements since 2023 (from 10% and 3% respectively), Coles has declined year-on-year, and ALDI dropped from the top spot in 2023 to last place.

“Supermarkets are sweeping the plastic pollution crisis under the shelf,” said AMCS Program Manager Tara Jones. “Despite selecting loose produce online, shoppers often received groceries overwrapped in plastic. We even saw single garlic bulbs packed in their own plastic bags. If online orders are contributing to more single-use plastic, urgent action is needed.”

Plastic-free produce comes at a premium

The audit involved hundreds of volunteer shoppers collecting price data, revealing that loose fresh produce is often more expensive than packaged alternatives. For example, loose oranges averaged $4.24 per kilogram, compared with $2.49 per kilogram pre-packaged.

“Australians trying to make sustainable choices are being penalised,” Jones said. “People should be able to trust that ‘loose produce’ actually means plastic-free, both in-store and online. Supermarkets must provide more plastic-free options and publicly report the amount of packaging used across supply chains.”

Urgent action needed

Boomerang Alliance Director Jeff Angel warned that the plastic crisis has serious environmental and health consequences. “Packaging now makes up 58% of litter collected by Clean Up Australia volunteers, much of it from supermarket shelves. Without strong action, plastic production, which is projected to triple by 2060, will send pollution spiralling out of control.”

We are calling on both supermarkets and government to implement mandatory reuse targets and an extended producer responsibility scheme, making retailers and brands financially accountable for the waste they generate.

The Unwrapped Audit 2025 was launched at a press conference this morning outside the Coles Group AGM in Melbourne.

For more information or media enquiries, contact: [email protected]