Businesses have scrambled to find alternatives to single-use plastics banned in the ACT from Thursday, under new rules designed to protect the environment.
The sale, supply and distribution of single-use plastic cutlery and stirrers are now prohibited in the territory after a new law was passed in March.
Expanded polystyrene containers are also included in the ban, but plastic-lined coffee cups, plastic dinnerware and heavyweight plastic bags remain.
Business owners say some of the changes have been confusing, as they sought to find alternatives in time for the new rules, which have received broad support.
Pure Gelato ACT owner Zoltan Tolgyesi said initially he thought he was fine as his business had worked with ACTSmart since 2015 to phase out plastic. It took him several phone calls to figure out that his bio-plastic spoons were also banned.
"In recent times we moved from pure plastic spoons to the European PLAs. We had two types. We had a compostable one so it does break down under natural progression and the other was a bio-plastic which can be recyclable," Mr Tolgyesi said.
"But after many phone calls I found out those aren't allowed so we are moving into wooden spoons and we'll be utilising a flat timber infinity spoon."
Mr Tolgyesi said the price of timber gelato spoons was one and a half times the original price of the bio-plastic equivalent.
But he said the biggest issue was finding the right spoon for the gelato, a process which involved testing well over 50 timber spoons to find the right one.
Gavin Chan, the owner of Happy's Chinese Restaurant in Garema Place, said he initially struggled to understand what was allowed.
"There were a lot of mixed messages coming from a lot of people. The suppliers were saying one thing and people were saying another and I had to go out and do my own research," Mr Chan said.
While businesses broadly support the new ban, issues over pricing and product replacements have made adapting complicated. Owners have found protecting the environment comes at a price.
Mr Chan said there were alternatives, but they cost three to four times the price of plastic.
"I totally support [the ban], don't get me wrong it needs to happen - but there's not too much of an alternative, if you know what I mean," Mr Chan said.
Mr Chan was already sourcing sustainable alternatives well over a year ago, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit, he had to put those plans aside due to financial limitations.
He said there are others he knows that have it worse, and this ban has only made it harder for them.
Charcoal Rooster owner Hoon Ahn had to replace both his polystyrene containers and plastic cutlery in the Braddon take-away shop in the last month and has found the transition difficult.
"I've talked with my suppliers and they don't have a replacement for the plastic knives and forks so we're just going to stop using them and bamboo and timber cutlery is too expensive," Mr Ahn said.
Meanwhile, The Food Co-Op, which has focused on sustainability since opening in 1976 by promoting bulk buying in reusable containers, will not see a change as a result of the ban.
The Co-Op's communications officer, Amie Illsfield, said the ban was a first step but it would not stop the amount of single use plastic that fills Canberra's supermarkets.
"It's very confusing about what is in and what is out and I guess because we've set the bar so high we're not really needing to look at it closely because we are already beyond complying," Ms Illsfield said.
"I do think it's great but when you walk into a supermarket it's just full of single-use plastic. The majority of single use plastic will still be in use because you can't buy anything that isn't packaged in that."
From Thursday, anyone caught selling, supplying or distributing any of the prohibited items can be fined up to $8000 for individuals or $40,500 for businesses.
ACT City Services Minister Chris Steel has emphasised the territory government would take an "educative approach" to compliance under the first stages of the ban.
"The ACT government has been working closely with business groups and the community over the past several years around the transition away from unnecessary and problematic single-use plastics," the minister said.
"This won't come as a surprise, people have had adequate time to change, and what this legislation does is create a level playing field for all businesses so that they're all doing the right thing and changing to alternatives."
More single-use plastics are expected to be phased out in the next stages of the ban in 2022 and 2023.
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with Jasper Lindell
