THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF GOING PLASTIC FREE :
THE NOOSA EXPERIENCE
Sasha Lennon , Roger Gibbins and Toby Hutcheon , SC Lennon & Associates
In 2019 , the Queensland Government , through the Department of Environment and Science , commissioned SC Lennon & Associates to prepare and report on an analysis of the economic benefits of the Plastic Free Places program . The work was undertaken with the support of Boomerang Alliance , a not-for-profit organisation focussed on maximising resource efficiency to achieve a zero-waste society .
The Plastic Free Places Program ( https :// www . plasticfreeplaces . org /) is a community-based initiative run by Boomerang Alliance in partnership with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation ( APCO ) as well as local Councils and other stakeholders in a number of locations throughout Australia including Noosa , Byron Bay , Perth , Adelaide , Cairns and Townsville . There are also two trial projects currently underway in Victoria - in Mt Martha and Elsternwick . The program encourages the café and hospitality and events sectors to switch practices away from single-use plastic takeaway items . The aim is to avoid and reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging and create lasting changes towards a circular economy .
The Plastic Free Places program has demonstrated that it is effective in reducing single-use plastics , which will have a positive benefit for the local environment and natural amenity , and a positive contribution to waste reduction initiatives . However , until now , not much was known , if anything , about the economic benefits of going plastic-free .
The investigation of economic benefits focussed on the program ’ s pilot project , Plastic Free Noosa , as a working case study . The study utilised cost-benefit analysis techniques and an assessment of estimated regional economic impacts to demonstrate the economic value of the Plastic Free Places program , to the region and to the State of Queensland as a whole .
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A key driver of the Plastic Free Places Economic Benefits Study was a desire to better understand and articulate the connection between positive environmental outcomes and the Queensland Government ’ s regional economic development agenda . Economic development is about encouraging investment , income and the creation of jobs . Equally , it can also be measured by improvements in education , skills , health , culture , community wellbeing , a sense of place and , of course , the environment . In this respect there are a diversity of
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 13 NO 2 2020 39