Lack of national approach to single-use plastics costing businesses across Australia

2022, 2023 or 2024. These are the three answers to one simple question. When is the government banning plastic plates? 

The situation only gets more chaotic when you look at plastic straws. They were banned in Queensland and South Australia in 2021, banned in NSW and the ACT in 2022 and will be banned in Victoria from February 2023. 

However, they are not banned in the Northern Territory (except on Council land in Darwin) and are only banned in Hobart in Tasmania. 

The reason behind this range of answers is that Australia does not have a consistent national plan when it comes to phasing out of single-use plastics. 

State and territory governments have stepped into this policy void and many have developed their own frameworks and timelines.

According to the National Retail Association, there are forty-two separate categories of plastics – from straws to microbeads – which are impacted by different pieces of plastics legislation around Australia.

This means that a franchised business like Chatime, which has over 250 stores across Australia, faces higher compliance costs and enhanced risks, as they must navigate a complex labyrinth of rules and regulations across the country. 

According to a 2014 paper from the Commonwealth Treasury Department, the direct compliance costs of regulation on the Australian economy could be equivalent to 5 percent of GDP each year. A lack of regulatory harmonisation across states and territories was noted as a significant component of this economic cost.

A Deloitte report released the same year estimated that compliance costs to Australian businesses in regards to the myriad of federal, state and local government rules and regulations was a staggering $67 billion a year.

While these are large headline figures – they mask the real impact being felt every day by small to medium businesses across this country who, already dealing with workforce shortages, inflationary pressures and supply chain risks, have another weight thrown into their boat.

Action is needed to curtail the amount of single-use plastics in our economy. They create a challenge for our waste management systems and the fact that they don’t break down for hundreds or even thousands of years means that they have a long-term impact on our environment. 

There are many Australian businesses embracing more sustainable practices and some have acted far ahead of government deadlines in regards to single-use plastics. 

Project Happy Turtle by Chatime is a perfect example of this forward-leaning action by the Australian business community. The company started in 2020 by phasing out plastic straws and will eliminate single-use plastics across their Australian network by 2023. 

In terms of action at the federal level, the National Plastics Plan released in 2021 established a broad but robust framework on how the government can work with industry to tackle plastic waste in Australia.

However, while this framework provides guidance on increasing plastic recycling and reducing the environmental impact of plastic – the development of enforcement mechanisms has been left to each state and territory. This has resulted in a patchwork of timelines and regulations which has needlessly increased compliance costs for businesses.

This inadequate approach was recognised recently at the joint meeting of Australia’s environment Ministers in Brisbane, with a key outcome of the meeting being that the group agreed to “develop nationally harmonised definitions to support the phase out of problematic single-use plastic.”

While this is a welcome step, the lack of a comprehensive national plan to tackle this national problem means that phasing out single-use plastics will be more costly and complex than necessary.

As the peak body for the $172 billion franchise business segment, which employs more than 565,000 people, the Franchise Council of Australia is committed to working with all levels of government to phase out single-use plastics. 

The FCA supports calls from industry for a consistent, national single-use plastic phase out plan that is commercially realistic and based on sound evidence.

This approach would be a win for our natural environment and a win for small to medium businesses across Australia.