Ballarat Wildlife Park
Protecting wildlife and the planet
From 100 free roaming kangaroos to Crunch, a five-metre-long “Super Croc”, get closer to nature at Ballarat Wildlife Park.
​
Founded by Greg Parker, this family-operated wildlife park has been welcoming visitors for over 40 years, just 90 minutes west of Melbourne. The team is actively involved in vital breeding programs and conservation initiatives, and delivers interactive wildlife experiences that build respect, empathy and understanding between people and animals.
Image: Team member recycling paper cup at Ballarat Wildlife Park
Commitment to conservation and sustainability
Sustainability is a core priority at Ballarat Wildlife Park, as protecting wildlife goes hand in hand with safeguarding their habitats and the natural resources they rely on. With a huge focus on reducing their environmental impact and caring for the planet for future generations, the park’s commitment to conservation, education, and sustainability is further strengthened.
Challenges in waste management during peak periods
During school holidays and weekends, high visitor numbers make managing waste and preventing contamination challenging, while also ensuring bins remain safe for animals.
​
To help address this, Ballarat Wildlife Park educates visitors about sustainability through presentations during wildlife shows as well as at the café, where friendly staff guide guests to correctly recycle their food and beverage packaging – including through the introduction to recycling paper cups with Simply Cups.
Giving paper cups a second life, one climb at a time
As a cup of coffee becomes part of your daily routine, so does recycling paper cups with Simply Cups at BridgeClimb Sydney.
​
BridgeClimb are always looking for practical ways to reduce their environmental impact, so they recognised paper cup recycling as a simple but effective step to help minimise their contribution to landfill in both their office and customer areas. Since partnering with Simply Cups, their collection units need to be emptied daily due to all their team members and visitors embracing paper cup recycling.
25,000+
paper cups saved from landfill
*accurate as of 31st October 2025
Image: Team member recycling paper cup at BridgeClimb Sydney
Only the beginning of their paper cup recycling journey
Whether sipping tea, coffee, or a refreshing slushie, visitors love exploring the park with a drink in hand – often in a paper cup – which makes Ballarat Wildlife Park’s collaboration with Simply Cups a perfect match.
​
While only just launching Simply Cups at the park in late 2025, the response from staff and visitors to recycling their paper cups has been amazing. With their Simply Cups collection units being emptied almost daily, visitors and staff are making conscious decisions that benefit the planet and the animals.
435
paper cups saved from landfill in their first month of recycling!
*accurate as of 31st December 2025
Image: Team member recycling paper cup at Ballarat Wildlife Park
“It’s been a great initiative to add into our keeper talks to educate our visitors about sustainability and all the small ways they can help. Especially the penguin talk, where a lot of disposable coffee cups can end up on our shorelines and waterways; their beautiful habitat!”
​
Ballarat Wildlife Park Staff Member
Image: Ballarat Wildlife Park team member with delivery of recycled toilet paper
A broader commitment to sustainability in action
Ballarat Wildlife Park is committed to finding innovative ways to minimise its footprint on the environment. With the success of their paper cup recycling launch, they also are involved in other sustainability initiatives including:
​
Planting trees for Koalas
In partnership with Fifteen Trees, Ballarat Wildlife Park launched a fundraising program called Branching Out for Koalas. For every koala experience booked at the park, $10 goes directly towards planting a koala food tree.
​
Recycled toilet paper
The park uses About A Dog recycled toilet paper in bathrooms, helping to save six million trees from being flushed down the toilet every year, with the supplier donating a portion of profits to animals in need.
​
Composting
Green waste is sent to a local worm farm, and food scraps are composted on-site to create a valuable resource.
​​
Giving branches another purpose
The branches fed out to koalas are put through a woodchipper to use on garden beds throughout the park.
​
Sustainability education
Through each wildlife presentation, Ballarat Wildlife Park aims to inspire visitors with key sustainability messages that help the environment and protect wildlife.
Want to make cup recycling easier at your venue?​
Get in touch to learn how Simply Cups can work for your site.
This page was last updated in January 2026.