A new independent study has found that the elimination of single-use plastics across all major Australian sports and entertainment venues and the coordinated strategic adoption of reusables will deliver significant environmental, operational and commercial benefits.
Cleaning services and waste management provider Quayclean Australia has unveiled the findings of its new ‘From Single use to sustainable: How reusables support the sustainability transition’ white paper, which found that approximately 40 to 50 million single-use cups are discarded annually at Australian sports venues.
In 2025, over 22.9 million spectators attended 1809 events across 213 stadiums. Quayclean chief executive Mark Piwkowski says that all Australian venues and events, together with state and territory governments, must move quickly to deliver improved environmental, social and sustainability outcomes.
“The facts reveal that reusable systems will cut waste generation, outperform single-use on environmental metrics and be cost positive over time where logistics and washing are optimised and single-use avoidance is counted as a saving,” says Piwkowski.
“Sydney Showgrounds, RAC Arena and Optus Stadium in Perth have switched to reusable cups, while several others have trialled reusable cups in specific patron areas without committing to permanent change.
“Without steadfast positive action, Australian venues will fall further behind with global environmental initiatives, particularly as the eyes of the world will be firmly placed on Australia leading towards the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
One of the key considerations when making the switch from disposable cups to reusable ones is Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) that consider the full environmental profile, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, transport, washing and end-of-life treatment, and compare this against the impacts of producing and disposing of an equivalent number of single-use cups.
The outcome of this analysis is the ‘breakeven point’, which identifies the number of uses required before a reusable cup results in lower ongoing environmental impacts than its single-use counterpart.
The report notes that when replacing Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) single-use cups with reusable cups made from polypropylene (PP), the reusables typically show a breakeven point of fewer than 10 uses. Once this breakeven point is reached, each subsequent reuse delivers a net environmental benefit by reducing waste generation, conserving resources and avoiding the repeated impacts associated with manufacturing and disposing of single-use products.
Piwkowski says that, supported by best practices, proven financial models and multi-stakeholder collaboration, reusable systems offer a credible pathway to deliver Australia’s commitments to reduce plastic consumption and environmental harm.
Overall, Australians generate nearly four million tonnes of plastic waste annually, which equates to approximately 114 kilograms per person. The Environment and Water report 2024 research shows that total plastic consumption in the country has grown nearly 40 percent since 2009-10 from 2.7 million tonnes to 3.77 million tonnes per annum. The national plastic recovery rate has remained stagnant at just 12.5 percent, meaning the vast majority of plastic waste – 87.5 percent – ends up in landfill.
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