CASE STUDY SUMMARY:
Moomba 2025
Achieves Record Reusable Dish Return Rates.
Bringing Sustainability to a million attendee event:
How bettercup's reuse system scaled across Australia's largest community festival.
Moomba Festival has been running since 1955 and is a beloved, five-day annual event in the Melbourne community over Labour Day weekend in March.
Attracting over 1 million attendees each year, it’s a vibrant celebration of culture, art, and community spirit, and is Australia’s largest free community festival.
Summary Results of Moomba Festival’s Reuse Project.
84%
return rate
465kg
waste eliminated
28,000
meals served
9,000
dishes washed
Want to dig into the detail? Get the full 6 page case study here.
Why Moomba's 2025 single-use food containers were failing sustainability.
Single-use containers generated an estimated 1,440kg of waste each year at Moomba Festival alone.
Although the containers are mostly compostable, they are not accepted in the organics waste streams. Compostable and non-compostable packaging look alike, so mislabeled items contaminate the composting streams which are used to convert organic material into fertiliser.
It was decided to introduce a reusable dish system at Moomba 2026 in order to reduce single-use waste generated by food containers.
A New Approach with Bettercup.
How the system was deployed:
PRODUCT QUANTITY AND TYPE.
18,900 reusable dishes were supplied, calculated from sales data and vendor menus. On-site wash station demonstrated the reusables to patrons; full washing completed post-event at bettercup HQ.
VENDOR COORDINATION.
15 food vendors were selected to trial the reusable food dishes. Per-use vendor pricing aligned with single-use container costs, calculated and charged post-event. Green My Plate managed vendor liaison, on site washing, collections, distribution and patron education.
REUSABLE RETURNS.
40 reusables bins with pink bin covers positioned alongside other bins, where patrons could return their items once they were finished eating.
CLEANERS.
Event cleaners sorted the bins, retrieving reusable food dishes and taking them to the wash station. The high visibility bright pink food dishes assisted the sorting process.
465kg of waste diverted = 70 wheelie bins worth!
Results and Insights.
Visible Tray Return Racks Increase Return Rates.
Using tray return racks instead of bins signaled reusable products weren't waste, encouraging higher patron return rates and reducing loss.
Higher Usage with Increased Stock Availability.
Vendors used reusables for 75% of menu items on-site; with additional stock, usage rates would have reached 85%, demonstrating strong demand when availability wasn't a constraint.
Dedicated Vendor Manager Builds Trust & Compliance.
A single vendor liaison improves communication speed, trust-building, and problem reporting.
Strategic Event Signage Boosts Awareness.
Signage at vendor tills, dining tables, and elevated positions increases system visibility in high-volume venues, driving patron participation.
Patron Feedback on Reusable Dish.
“... I also really loved the Pink container idea, brilliant and kept the place clean.”
“Very impressed with availability of drinking water, and loved the
right pink reusable serving ware.”
“..I loved that some places had the reusable pink containers that
staff were collecting to reuse.”
The Future of Reuse at Moomba Festival.
City of Melbourne is committed to scaling the Reuse Living Lab and has outlined plans to establish a permanent, venue-based reusable system for food & beverage packaging across events in 2026 and beyond.
Long-term sustainability goals include building a branded reusable cup and dish fleet, reducing operational costs while creating additional marketing and communication opportunities through the City's environmental leadership.
Funding pathways will be diversified through vendor partnerships and deposit models - where patrons pay a refundable deposit on meal purchase, redeemed upon dish return - to support financial sustainability and scale.
As attendees become familiar with the reusable system and operational issues are resolved, return rates improve. Moomba can expect to achieve return rates above 90% over time.
