Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in some supply chain issues and limitations for re-usable plastic items, the policy has been implemented at events and Council-managed facilities across Launceston.

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City of Launceston chief executive Michael Stretton said that it would be of great benefit to the city in many ways.

"For some time the City of Launceston has recognised that - as a major contributor to regional events and as the manager of popular regional facilities - the prevalence of single use plastics results in significant impacts on the environment," he said.

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"As a consequence, in 2019 the City of Launceston passed a motion signalling its intent to phase out single use plastics at its facilities and at events held on council managed land.

"The Council then began work on the development of a policy to guide the shift away from single use plastics. This policy was formally adopted by the City of Launceston in June, 2020."

The policy set out a number of targets, including that the Council cease purchasing single use plastics in its buildings by mid-2020, and that the Council work with event organisers, contractors and caterers to phase out single use plastics at Council-sponsored events by January 2022.

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The policy does not apply to incidental bookings of Council venues, or to pre-packaged food and beverage products like bottled drinks or chocolate bars.

The policy also notes there are some circumstances where the use of single use plastics may be unavoidable.

"Since the adoption of the policy, the Council has developed new procurement procedures for single use plastic products and has introduced clauses regarding single use plastics into event sponsorship agreements and venue hire agreements," Mr Stretton said.

"The Council has also worked with event organisers to highlight alternative options like compostable packaging, which has been embraced in recent years by events like Festivale, and which can be processed through the City of Launceston's kerbside FOGO service.

"The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has created some challenges, particularly around re-usable items and the reduced availability of some product lines."

A planned transition to re-usable beverage cups at UTAS Stadium was impacted by the handling rules associated with the pandemic. As a result the Council will now be introducing compostable cups at the stadium.

"The Council has been pleased with how the policy has been received by event organisers and event patrons, who have adapted to new compostable packaging alternatives," Mr Stretton said.

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