Cafés in New South Wales will not have to serve dine-in customers in a mug or glass, and there will be no mandatory reusable cup schemes, the NSW Government announced on Tuesday 27 October. The two concessions follow strong pushback from café owners and small business advocates against parts of the state’s plastics reforms.
“The NSW Government is making two changes to reforms that reduce plastic waste, to give small businesses certainty,” Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said. “Cafés will not be required to offer a mug or glass to dine-in customers.”
What changed
Ms Sharpe said the legislation had been designed to give customers the option of a mug or glass rather than only a disposable cup. “But we’ve heard the concerns from small businesses, and we won’t be requiring cafés to purchase any additional cups or change the way they operate,” she said.
On reuse schemes, in which cafés partner with cup providers so customers can borrow a reusable cup, she said: “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.”
What stays
The broader reforms continue. According to Nine, single-use takeaway coffee cups will still need to meet recyclability standards, and venues will be required to accept customers’ clean personal reusable cups. Ms Sharpe said the legislation also phases out plastic items such as bread tags, balloon sticks, microbeads and soy sauce fish containers.
The reaction
Theo Foukkare, chief executive of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores, said the decision had been made without consultation with those it would affect. “We took our members’ concerns to the NSW Premier, the Minister for Environment and the Small Business Minister, as well as the NSW Opposition. We initiated a strong media campaign which gained traction quickly and common sense has prevailed,” he said. He noted the Opposition’s commitment to repeal the laws if elected in March 2027.
Not everyone welcomed the retreat. Saxon Wright, founder of reusable cup business Huskee and chief sustainability officer at BioPak, told Nine the pivot was “perhaps a little reactive” and that cost concerns were “probably overblown”. “I think reuse absolutely has a place, but in the right place, in the right context, with the right infrastructure,” he said.
Why it matters
For hospitality operators already dealing with higher costs, the change removes the prospect of buying crockery or signing up to reuse providers. The episode also shows how quickly a state government will recalibrate a regulation once small businesses can show its practical cost.
Sources: Nine (27 October 2026); Convenience & Impulse Retailing (29 October 2026).