Coffee Cup Phase-Outs: How to Respond

Simply Cups
6 days ago
4 min read

If you’ve seen headlines about a “coffee cup phase-out” in Noosa, it’s easy to assume a sudden ban.

That’s not what’s happening.

What Noosa has done so far is approve $5,600 to investigate and kickstart a program supporting a voluntary, industry-led shift away from single-use takeaway cups across the shire, working with Tourism Noosa’s Plastic Free Noosa program.

That distinction matters — because this is often how change spreads in Australia: a council leads by example in its own venues, partners with willing businesses, pilots something practical, and then it starts showing up as “expected practice” in procurement, events, and precinct operations.

So what should venues, councils, cafés, and brand-owners take from this — and what should you do next?

What Noosa is exploring (and why it’s gaining traction)

Noosa is positioning takeaway coffee cups as a highly visible “catalyst” item: not necessarily the biggest waste stream, but a simple everyday habit that can help kick-start wider reuse behaviours.

The early focus is also pragmatic:

A trial is already underway at the Noosa Aquatic Centre café, with plans flagged to expand to other council venues (including the Noosa Leisure Centre café).
The initiative is framed as voluntary, working first with willing participants to build momentum — not trying to force every business to switch overnight.
Council can lead with what it controls (its venues, events, functions), while encouraging broader uptake.

This is where “phase-out” language often outruns reality. Councils generally can’t mandate what private cafés do — and Noosa’s approach has been reported as voluntary, with some councillors questioning whether it has enough “meat and bones” behind it.

In other words: it’s a behaviour-change project that’s being discussed through a policy headline.

The uncomfortable question: what happens to the cups that don’t disappear?

Even in the best-run reuse trials:

not every customer returns a cup,
not every vendor joins,
and not every event can switch overnight.

So while reuse is an important pathway, there’s a parallel reality most organisations still need to manage:

Single-use cups remain in circulation (especially when customers buy coffee across many vendors and brands).
Most disposable cups include a lining that makes them not accepted in most kerbside recycling programs.
Estimates vary, but Australians use around 1.8+ billion single-use coffee cups each year.

That’s the gap many “phase-out” discussions gloss over: you still need a responsible plan for the cups that remain — otherwise impact claims get fuzzy, fast.

Reuse vs recycle isn’t an “either/or”. It’s sequencing.

Here’s a more realistic way to think about it:

Pathway A: Reuse (best outcome, hardest to scale quickly)

Reuse systems work best where there’s:

a tight precinct (multiple venues close together),
a clear return mechanism (deposit / take-back),
strong staff buy-in,
and customers who aren’t just passing through once.

But reuse needs operational answers: washing, storage, peak-time workflow, loss rates, and who pays when cups go missing. If those aren’t solved, uptake stalls.

Pathway B: Reduce and redesign (quick wins, limited reach)

Simple changes help: fewer cup sizes, better signage, incentives for keep-cups, smarter procurement.

But redesign doesn’t deal with what’s already in the market today.

Pathway C: Purpose-built recovery for what remains (essential for credibility)

If you’re not at 100% reuse (most organisations aren’t), the “what we do with the rest” plan is what protects your reputation.

That’s where dedicated programs matter: separate collection, proven processing, and end markets that turn recovered material into something real.

A practical checklist for councils, venues, cafés, and brand-owners

If you’re watching Noosa and wondering whether you should act, here’s the practical plan.

1) Get honest about your baseline

Where are cups being used (tenancies, events, staff functions)?
Rough volumes (weekly/monthly)?
Current disposal pathways (general waste, mixed recycling, “wish-cycling”)?

2) Pilot reuse where conditions suit

Pick one site where you can actually measure it (a leisure centre café is a good example).

Define success upfront: return rate, customer satisfaction, operational pain points, and net cost.

3) Put a recovery plan in place for residual single-use cups

Even if your ambition is a reuse culture, you’ll have leakage for months (often years). Plan for it now.

4) Communicate plainly and precisely

Avoid blanket claims like “we’ve phased out cups” when the reality is “we’re trialling reuse and improving recovery.”

Noosa’s own framing acknowledges not every business will be ready immediately — that honesty is the right tone.

5) Report what you can prove

If you can’t measure it, expect people to question it.

Track:

participation (venues onboarded),
cups avoided (reuse),
cups recovered (recycling pathway).

Where Simply Cups fits in this conversation

We’re pro-reuse — genuinely. If a reuse system works in a precinct, that’s a great outcome.

But until reuse is universal (it isn’t), organisations still need a practical and credible way to deal with single-use cups already in circulation. The worst outcome is a “phase-out” headline with no solution for the cups that remain — which just shifts the problem out of sight.

If you’re a council, venue operator, or brand-owner trying to work out the right sequence — reuse trials + smarter procurement + recovery for what’s left — we can help you map the options, implement collection, and build reporting you can stand behind.

Want to sanity-check your approach?

Reach out and tell us your location, site type (office / venue / precinct / event), and approximate cup volumes — and we’ll suggest a practical next step.