Banning Single-Use Plastic Bottles In Victorian Zoos

May 04, 2019

All single-use plastic bottles are now banned from Zoos Victoria sites in an effort to move towards zero public waste going to landfill.

Single-use plastic bottled water and soft drinks, along with straws and plastic bags, will no longer be used or sold at Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary from 1 May 2019.

Zoos Victoria is leading by example to reduce Victorians’ impact on the environment, advance the sustainable use of resources and help protect marine wildlife.

Plastic pollution is an urgent environmental problem that is having a significant impact on marine wildlife – each year Zoos Victoria’s Marine Response Unit deals with an increasing number of callouts to marine wildlife in distress.

Zoos Victoria is Victoria’s leading zoo-based conservation organisation – this move is part of a broader effort to influence visitors and other organisations to make positive changes towards a greener, more wildlife-friendly future.

From June this year, the three Zoo properties will have a new three-bin waste system available to the public – organics, comingled and soft-plastics, such as single-use food wrappers – so no public waste goes to landfill.

Soft plastics will be recycled in Victoria through a circular economy arrangement where Zoos Victoria will buy back products made from the plastics it recycles.

“This is a great outcome for the environment and builds on the work our Zoos already do protect marine wildlife and promote conservation.” - Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio

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