Spotless : Slushie takes on the last straw at 1300SMILES stadium

Spotless' catering team has had the last straw with plastic, joining the war on waste at the 1300SMILES stadium in Townsville. The humble plastic straw is one of the worst offenders doing harm to the environment - taking hundreds, sometimes thousands of years to break down - and many venues are moving to ban their use.

'We are always keen to look at sustainable alternatives in all of our operations and were pleased to join the ban on straws,' said Jeffrey Ellis, Spotless Hospitality Venue Manager at 1300SMILES stadium. 'However, an alternative was needed when we took into account the stadium's many faithful frozen coke drinkers.'

The solution came in the shape of Austraw's ecostraw - a biodegradable eco-friendly spoon straw, capable of providing the same straw drinking experience but meeting requirements to be degradable, compostable or biodegradable. The stadium is now straw-free with the exception of the biodegradable slushie straws.

In addition to the 1300SMILES stadium, Spotless provides catering services to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, as well as nib Stadium in Perth.