Meals on Wheels and the NSW EPA Partnership

Meals on Wheels NSW named a sustainability partner to help reduce reliance on single use plastics in their communities. 

Meals on Wheels NSW is being supported by the NSW Government to deliver grassroots community-led actions to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics and change our habits.

Meals on Wheels NSW are proud to partner with the NSW EPA

on an initiative that supports starting the conversation with Meals on Wheels services around the State, their volunteers and their clients

In June, 2022, Environment Minister James Griffin congratulated Meals on Wheels NSW and said the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is delivering funding to 17 community champions to help inspire others.

“The NSW Government is on a mission to reduce our reliance on problematic single-use plastics because we need to seriously decrease the amount of plastic entering our environment as litter or landfill,” Mr Griffin said.   

Each partner will lead a project aimed at educating and changing behaviours in their community.

Meals on Wheels NSW are looking forward to leading their project that focuses on educating local Meals on Wheels services, clients and volunteers about the single use plastics ban in NSW. By inviting the general public to sew or crochet bags for use by their local Meals on Wheels service, we will be starting the conversation about the single use plastics ban and other alternatives that may be available for use.

Les MacDonald, CEO of Meals on Wheels NSW said “It is crucial that we not all simply rely on governments to do the heavy lifting. As communities we have a responsibility, when government has set a clear direction on such an existential issue, that we happily accept the challenge to make our communities safer and more sustainable for the future generations in those communities.

Meals on Wheels as an integral part of communities around NSW must seek to lead in addressing these issues and provide leadership to not only become sustainable ourselves but to demonstrate that if we work together we are able, as we always have done, to deal with any problem and overcome any difficulty together.” Mr MacDonald said.

We’re passionate about sustainability, and motivated to help change habits and drive sustainable practices at a local level.

Les MacDonald, CEO, Meals on Wheels NSW

From 1 June, 2022, lightweight single-use plastic bags were banned in NSW. From November, 2022, the NSW Government has banned additional single use items, including use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups, and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads. This ban will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment in NSW over the next 20 years.

These partnerships build on the extensive campaign by the NSW Government to ensure small businesses and the community are ready for the changes. The National Retail Association (NRA) is also delivering a comprehensive retailer education campaign.