With the Australian Open (AO) 2025 underway, tennis fans are sipping sustainably thanks to a strategic partnership between Tennis Australia and Sustainability Victoria, which will see 38,000 reusable cups used around the precinct.
The introduction of reusable cups at select bars promises to have a huge impact, with 50,000 single use cups expected to be saved from landfill at the tournament, the equivalent of 400 kilograms of plastic.
Matt Genever, CEO of Sustainability Victoria, commented: “This is an exciting opportunity to reduce single-use plastic waste at one of Australia’s most iconic and popular events.
“We know people want to do the right thing by the environment and through this partnership we’re enabling and encouraging reuse behaviour so tennis fans can reduce their carbon footprint.
“Adoption of reusables, particularly in an event setting, is the only way forward if we’re to win the war on waste. Tennis Australia’s support is invaluable in helping us make no waste the new normal.”
AO 2025 is expected to have record attendance of more than one million fans throughout the tournament, and Tennis Australia’s Director of Sustainability Matthew Nicholas says reduced environmental impact is an important part of future-proofing tennis.
“We’re building on the single use reductions we’ve achieved over the past few years at the AO. In 2025 we’re projecting that the AO reusables program will prevent waste of more than 100,000 single-use cups, plates and bowls, which is more than triple what we achieved just two years ago.
“We’re also collecting and separating other hard-to-recycle materials at the tournament that we can’t substitute for reusables, from ball canisters to the players’ racquet string offcuts,” he explained.
Reusable cups were produced for the AO by Melbourne-based brand Bettercup, a Sustainability Victoria grant recipient, with the team from social enterprise Green My Plate on-site to wash cups.