NSW government backflips on brand-new coffee cup law

October 28, 2026 — 7:40am

Cafes will be able to continue serving customers who chose to sit down to drink hot drinks in recyclable disposable cups in a change to a new law introduced to reduce plastic waste passed last week.

“We’ve listened to the concerns raised by small businesses about reusable coffee cup reforms, and we’re making changes to give them certainty and confidence,” said NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe announcing the changes on Wednesday morning.

“I can confirm that cafes will not be required to offer a mug or glass to dine-in customers. The legislation was designed to give customers the option of a mug or glass when enjoying a coffee in a cafe, rather than only being offered a disposable takeaway cup.

“But we’ve heard the concerns from small businesses, and we won’t be requiring cafes to purchase any additional cups or change the way they operate.

Under the laws a range of products will be banned or phased out over coming years, including non-recyclable disposable coffee cups, and disposable coffee cups containing harmful chemicals.

But one provision, that would have made it compulsory for cafes and other outlets to offer dine-in customers standard reusable glassware or crockery for tea and coffee after 2030, has been abandoned.

This provision was objected to by some business groups, including the Australian Association of Convenience Stores, which was concerned that its members might have been inadvertently subject to the changes.

Theo Foukkare, chief executive of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores, said whatever the intent of the law, it appeared that it could have seen service station owners being forced to provide reusable coffee cups.

“Everyone’s been talking about cafes, but nobody’s mentioned the 2300 servos and convenience stores across NSW that serve coffee around the clock,” he said.

“Picture a customer grabbing fuel and a coffee from a self serve machine at 2am. Who’s washing the cups?”

The Liberals have sworn to repeal the law under a future NSW Coalition government.

Under the new plastic law the mass release of balloons at events like funerals or weddings will be immediately banned, while other restrictions on single-use plastic items will be phased in over coming years.

These include banning plastic sticks for lollipops in favour of paper or wooden alternatives, banning the plastic ties on bread bags, tethering lids to plastic bottles accepted in return-and-earn schemes, ensuring that stickers on fruit and vegetables are compostable, and phasing out plastic microbeads from beauty and cleaning products.

“We’re also making it clear that there will be no mandatory reusable cup schemes. These schemes allow cafes to partner with cup providers so customers can borrow a reusable cup,” said Sharpe.

“We were planning exemptions for small businesses to any future reuse schemes – but to remove all concern, we’re making it clear that there will be no mandatory reuse schemes.

“Some businesses are already choosing to do this on their own, and they are welcome to do so. And to be absolutely clear, the NSW government has never proposed banning single-use takeaway coffee cups. They will be made recyclable, so they can go in the yellow bin,” she said.

In 2022-23, NSW generated about 891,000 tonnes of plastic waste – almost 110 kilograms a head – but only 14 per cent of that was recycled. Nearly 800 million single-use cups are used in NSW each year, and most are used for only a matter of minutes before being discarded.

Under the new law takeaway coffee cups are not being banned, but from 2028 they must be recyclable. From 2028, cafes will need to accept KeepCups for takeaway when clean and hygienic cups are presented to staff by customers.

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Nick O'Malley is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent.Connect via email.

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