Victoria fines Top Tea for breaching single-use plastics ban
A popular Australian bubble tea and bakery chain has been fined $2,035 after supplying a banned item to customers, becoming the first company penalised for continuing to use plastic straws under Victoria’s updated regulations introduced in 2023.
The Victorian rules also prohibit the sale or supply of several other single-use plastic products, including plates, cutlery, drink stirrers and expanded polystyrene food service items.
Top Tea’s Swanston Street store in Melbourne’s CBD was issued the penalty after customers reported the venue to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA). EPA officers inspected the site in October and found plastic straws and stirrers.
EPA compliance and enforcement officer Julia Gaitan described the breach as “disappointing”, saying there was no excuse given broad compliance across the retail sector.
“The ban was introduced because single-use plastics were making up a third of the litter we see in our environment and were difficult and costly to clean up,” she said.
“They were often only useful for a few minutes before they wound up in landfill, or far worse, in the streets, the bush and our waterways and along our beaches.”
Melbourne-based Top Tea operates multiple stores across the city and in other states, and has been contacted for comment.
The enforcement comes as states and territories continue to tighten restrictions on problematic plastics. South Australia drew attention after announcing a ban on plastic soy sauce fish, while the NSW Government in November published a 5-year schedule of planned single-use plastic bans, including soy sauce fish, fruit and vegetable stickers, bread ties and umbrella sleeves.
Jonathan Jackson, 18th December 2025
