Single Use Coffee Cups Program · Report

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING                                         9 DECEMBER 2025



RECOMMENDATION
That Council
A. Note the report by the Sustainability and Climate Change Officer to the Planning & Environment
   Committee Meeting dated 9 December 2025;
B. Support the Single Use Coffee Cups program with in-kind contribution from existing Council staff
   resources (2-3hrs per week) to support Plastic Free Noosa to engage industry stakeholders and
   co-develop a program for the first cohort of businesses to transition to a reuse system;
C. Work closely with Tourism Noosa to prioritise the $5600.00 required to kickstart the program
   through their FY25-26 budget; and
D. Subject to C, should budget not be available, provide in kind support and a small allocation of
   funding to support the initiation and engagement phases of the program through Council’s
   Sustainability Operational budget as it aligns with the endorsed Climate Change Response Plan,
   Environment Strategy, and From Waste to Resource Plan.


REPORT
In July 2024, relevant staff across Council and Tourism Noosa began conversations around a
program to phase out single use coffee cups. The group included council staff from the waste,
economic development and sustainability and climate change teams together with staff from Tourism
Noosa and Plastic free Noosa. The group brainstormed the issue and possible approaches, including
how to deal with existing single use cups and lids and prevent them from going to landfill.

A range of options were considered including a service that collects single use cups and lids,
transports them to a processing facility where they are shredded, turned into building materials and
added into an innovative asphalt product for roads. In consultation with Peregian Beach Business
Association, Tourism Noosa put together a survey and spoke to café owners in Peregian Beach
about this concept. However, there was little interest at the time, perhaps due to timing or logistical
challenges.

Following this, it was considered that a reuse system, rather than a waste diversion system, was
more in line with the goals of the program for a cultural shift away from single use items. A number
of solutions were investigated including a very simple solution where customers can access a
reusable takeaway cup for a $3 deposit and cups can be returned to any participating café in
Australia at any time 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.

Following this, Plastic Free Noosa worked with Sunshine Social to pilot the reusable cups program
(with on-site dishwashing) at the Noosa Eat and Drink (NED) event. The initiative was well received
by users and vendors and will form a good foundation for festivals and events in the future.

Since then 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. This initiative is
currently being industry-led, off the back of the NED trial.

On 19 June 2025, Council endorsed a notice of motion supporting Tourism Noosa’s Plastic Free
Noosa Program to drive a voluntary shift away from single-use coffee cups across the shire. The
motion called for a simple, scalable plan focused on education, business support, and behaviour
change, for Council to lead by example in its own operations, and for a report outlining
implementation costs for consideration. Since the notified motion, a number of conversations have
been held with reusable suppliers who have shown interest to support the roll out of reusables in
Noosa Shire. Two large scale business users of disposable coffee cups have also indicated a desire
to go single-use cup free.