2026 LGAQ CONFERENCE MOTIONS & COUNCILLOR ATTENDANCE (Referred from the General Committee Meeting dated 7 July 2026 - Item 7.7) · Attachment 7 - Funding Queensland Councils to Pilot Opt-In Reusable Cup Programs

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                            segregate and treat this type of compostable material, meaning
                            that they still end up in landfill. Queensland councils manage the
                            consequences of this at a local level, through increased waste to
                            landfill and potential litter in waterways, on beaches, and in
                            parks, yet currently have no consistent state support or
                            framework to address it.
                            Noosa Shire Council has already acted. Following a rubbish
                            audit that found coffee cups made up 18 per cent of littered
                            items at Noosa Main Beach, Council voted to remove single-use
                            cups from its headquarters and launch a voluntary business
                            education program - believed to be the first such initiative by a
                            Queensland council. That approach, starting with Council’s own
                            operations and framed around education rather than
                            enforcement, demonstrates that meaningful change is
                            achievable and that local government can lead community
                            behaviour change.
                            The challenge is that individual councils acting alone can only go
                            so far. What is missing is the State Government investment that
                            would allow the Port Douglas model to be replicated: a funded
                            framework, a ready-made operational guide, and a grant stream
                            that makes participation accessible to councils of all sizes.
Case study/ Example         The Douglas Chooses to Reuse program, launched in June
(optional) 350-word limit   2025 on Macrossan Street in Port Douglas, is the clearest proof
                            of concept available. Funded by the Queensland State
                            Government through the Department of Environment, Tourism,
                            Science and Innovation, and delivered by the Boomerang
                            Alliance under its national Plastic Free Places program, the
                            initiative provides customers at participating cafés with free
                            reusable cups they can borrow and return at any participating
                            venue or one of several drop pods located throughout the town.
                            There is no sign-up and no deposit required.
                            Within 12 months, the program had prevented more than 10,000
                            single-use cups and lids from entering landfill. The Boomerang
                            Alliance has explicitly described the Port Douglas program as a
                            model designed to be scaled across Queensland. Environment
                            and Tourism Minister Andrew Powell said the project “delivered
                            meaningful change in the community” and demonstrated that “a
                            reuse cup system can work.”
                            The program’s success was built on three elements that this
                            motion asks the State Government to replicate at scale: State
                            Government funding, a clear operational model delivered by an
                            experienced partner, and the opt-in participation of local
                            businesses and the community. These are not complex or costly
                            ingredients. They are exactly what other Queensland councils
                            need, and what this motion is asking the State Government to
                            provide.




                                                                                             June 26
                                                                                      Wilson Crawley