Waste targets smashed at Australian Open
At this year’s Australian Open, single-use waste reduction targets have been smashed with Tennis Australia’s projection of 100,000 items reusable items washed exceeded by almost 37,000.
Through a game-changing strategic partnership between Sustainability Victoria and Tennis Australia, thousands of reusable cups made by Victorian company bettercup replaced single-use cups in the Courtside Bar and bars around Garden Square at AO25.
With additional reusable cups, bowls and plates served by vendors in the Garden Square and Western Courts areas, the event saw a record-breaking 136,932 items washed for reuse, nearly doubling the result from AO24.
During the three-week tournament, the dishwashing team from Green My Plate collected, washed and returned over 69,000 bettercups alone, representing 552 kg of single-use cups avoided.
Matt Genever, Sustainability Victoria’s CEO, said, “It’s fantastic that so many people embraced the reusable cups at AO25, diverting waste from landfill and reducing their environmental impact.
“The simplicity of the model was key to its success. Patrons enjoyed their drinks in the reusable cups then dropped them at clearly marked collection points for washing.
“The reusable bettercups will also be repurposed for other events across Victoria, providing a long-term solution to waste reduction,” explained Mr Genever.
Tennis Australia’s Director of Sustainability Matthew Nicholas said, “We’re proud of the steps we’re taking to reduce single use consumption at the Australian Open.
“On top of the almost 137,000 single use items diverted from waste streams through the AO Reusables program, we recycled over 74 tonnes of glass and 64 tonnes of cardboard. We also tackled more challenging tournament-specific waste streams, sending approximately 16,000 tennis ball tubes and 5 kilometres of nylon racquet string offcuts to dedicated recycling pilots.”
Sustainability Victoria will continue to support Tennis Australia on its future sustainability strategy as Victoria transitions to a circular economy with less waste and emissions.