Boomerang Alliance, the national non-profit organisation, has launched the Plastic Ban Solution Finder, a website designed to assist hospitality businesses in navigating state plastic ban regulations.
The website is now available for businesses in Western Australia and South Australia, offers a range of packaging alternatives that comply with state regulations and aims to protect the environment.
This website is part of Boomerang Alliance’s Plastic Free Places program, which has worked with thousands of hospitality businesses to eliminate over 30 million single-use plastic items.
Kellie Lindsay, the Plastic Free Places manager at Boomerang Alliance, emphasised the difficulties businesses face due to misleading packaging claims.
“Many businesses have been misled into purchasing packaging that falsely claims to be plastic-free or compliant with bans. This is very frustrating and often costly for businesses trying to do the right thing,” Lindsay said. “We’ve developed a simple and comprehensive solution that ensures businesses can easily find the right alternatives and have confidence in their purchasing decisions, helping them avoid greenwash.”
The Plastic Ban Solution Finder aims to provide a straightforward, comprehensive resource to help businesses make informed purchasing decisions and avoid greenwashing. The website offers clear, up-to-date information, and Boomerang Alliance independently verifies every packaging product for ban compliance by cross-referencing with certification bodies and checking product claims.
Additionally, the site includes guides on reducing single-use packaging, helping businesses save both money and waste. The initiative is funded by the Western Australian and South Australian state governments, with plans to expand to other states in the future.
Government support and expected impact
The Plastic Ban Solution Finder was developed with funding support from the State Government and is intended to support Western Australian food and beverage retailers, community groups, and local governments in finding single-use plastic alternatives that comply with WA’s Plan for Plastics regulations.
Adrian Wiley, circular economy director at the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, commented, “The Boomerang Alliance Solution Ban Finder is making the process of transition to compliant single-use plastic alternatives simpler.” He added that the site, supported by State Government funding, is a valuable tool for industry and aids in WA’s move towards a more sustainable, circular economy.
The Department has collaborated with Boomerang Alliance and the National Retail Association since 2020 to assist businesses in adapting to the Plan for Plastics. The State Government anticipates that the latest single-use plastic bans will prevent an additional 700 million plastic items from entering landfill or litter annually, building on the 430 million single-use plastics already eliminated through the first phase of the plan.
