Ajay Malhotra's party store in Perth's south sells more than 7,000 products, but many of them may end up in landfill as the first phase of Western Australia's single-use plastics ban comes into force today.
While the store had already started eliminating most of its single-use plastics a while back in favour of biodegradable, natural sugarcane and palm-leaf products, Mr Malhotra said finding substitutes for certain items was nearly impossible.
"We've been discounting products which don't meet the ban requirements and selling some of those at a loss, but that was to be expected," he said.
"There's simply not many alternatives for a lot of the themed products, including licensed themes … they're some of our most popular products in the store [and] not being able to sell them will definitely have an impact.
Despite the ban being introduced in January, Mr Malhotra said there was still some uncertainty about what he could sell at his store.
"There's been a lot of misinformation … we're still getting emails as late as last week about what is within the ban and what's not," he said.
"There's just a lot of grey areas [and], as a retailer, we're very dependent on what our suppliers are telling us is allowed and what's not allowed because we don't know the exact makeup of each product."
Retailers left scrambling amid inconsistent rules
Under the first phase of the West Australian government's ban, single-use plastics or disposable items that are strictly prohibited from July 1, 2022 will include:
- plates
- bowls
- cutlery
- stirrers
- straws
- thick plastic bags
- polystyrene takeaway food containers
- helium balloon releases.
The regulations also include items made from compostable or plant-based plastics, as well as paper products, that have a plastic coating or lining, such as coloured or printed paper plates and bowls commonly used for parties and celebrations.
Western Australia is the first state to ban those items, leaving retailers such as Mr Malhotra scrambling to find suitable alternatives.
"Not having uniform legislation between states has been very challenging for both suppliers and retailers in the party supplies industry," he said.
"Western Australia is extremely strict with that requirement, which makes it very difficult for us to actually source products going forward and also makes it very difficult for the suppliers to actually produce something that meets all the states' requirements."
However, Mr Malhotra said, there was a "loophole", allowing consumers to still purchase those products from interstate, meaning they would still end up in West Australian landfill after use.
"That doesn't really solve the problem … which is [decreasing the number of] plastic [items] going into landfill," he said.
"The whole industry is trying to advocate that, what's already here, what's already in Western Australia, it doesn't make sense for us to throw that out at a huge loss."
'Nobody left behind'
Working with the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, the National Retail Association had spent the first half of this year engaging with thousands of retailers to help them understand and prepare for the ban.
However, chief executive Dominique Lamb admits patience and ongoing support would still be needed over the next few months.
"We know that many of our national brands have moved towards more sustainable bag options [and] more sustainable packaging options over time but, for small businesses, this is a big change for them," she said.
"They need that time, and they need that information, in order to be able to understand what their obligations and responsibilities are, and also why those decisions have been made."
Ms Lamb praised the West Australian government for not only taking the environment "incredibly seriously" but for its commitment to an "education-first" approach in enforcing the new rules.
"It has been really important, from our perspective, to see a government really want to work with business and to understand what problems they are having at this time," she said.
"And to see that they're committed to ensuring that there are translatable documents that cater for all of the different people that work within our space, and to make sure that nobody is left behind when it comes to a change that ultimately is going to improve our environment."
Takeaway businesses ask for flexibility
A second round of changes banning disposable cups for cold drinks will come into force in October, including cups made from bioplastics and paper cups lined with plastic.
Items to be banned by the end of 2022 include:
- produce bags
- coffee cups and lids
- lidded containers
- microbeads
- polystyrene packaging
- cotton bud sticks
- oxo-degradable additives (plastics designed to break up more rapidly into fragments under certain conditions).
Ms Lamb said the government had decided to first ban unlidded containers to focus on one product instead of two, as there were a variety of lids available.
"They're currently working alongside suppliers as well as retailers, to work out the exemptions that potentially could apply to certain products that have lids, which may not be a plastic that is as harmful to the environment," she said.
In terms of enforcing the ban, Ms Lamb said it was important businesses understood their obligations before stricter penalties, such as fines, were implemented.
Takeaway business faces higher costs
However, for takeaway businesses such as Lunch Bar Twenty2 in Perth's north-west, it might be months before they can make the switch.
The family business relies on single-use plastics for nearly everything, from soup bowls to takeaway containers, cutlery and plastic cups for iced drinks.
"We would need at least three months to adapt, solely because of COVID, because within that two-year time frame, we've bought a lot of stock [and] obviously we can't use all our stock in six months," manager Natalie Nguyen said.
"We need to go buy and change everything … right now I'm paying $20 for a plastic fork carton [but] I will have to pay $80 for the bamboo one.
"That means we will have to increase our prices … so customers might rethink about coming to us."
Ms Nguyen said she was actively looking for alternatives, such as aluminium or sugarcane packaging, but said it wouldn't be ideal for food such as hot soups.
"The bowls will tear down and the soups will leak out and they might not be able to reuse them because it just breaks apart," she said.
"I reckon the government should allow us to use our products that we have left [or], if we can somehow prove that we have so much stock then they can help us by reimbursing us with all the stuff that we have to chuck away or recycle."
Wholesaler leading the way
While fresh produce packaging is currently exempt from the ban, the state government has indicated that it may be considered in the future.
However, a West Australian tomato wholesaler is already making changes by using environmentally friendly punnets, made from recycled cardboard.
EPT Produce director Wally Di Giosaffate spent 15 months working on a suitable alternative to the plastic punnets that hold cherry and grape tomatoes.
"Everybody's eventually going to go environmentally friendly sooner or later … so rather than wait until it becomes legislation, I thought I'll just start initiating it as soon as I could," he said.
“And it's been a huge success with a lot of the shops and people who see them in store, they’re just full of praise.”
The Perth-based wholesaler is hoping others will follow his lead to help protect the environment.
"I know things don't happen overnight but us, as people, we can do our little bit too, and I thought this is my little bit of doing something for the environment and the community, and for the future generations of my children and everybody else's children."
