Chris Foley, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) CEO, opened a Pandora’s box of reactions, as he spoke on plastic packaging and recycling to Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) NSW members, at a dinner event on Tuesday evening in Sydney.
Foley outlined some stark realities, and told APPMA members they need to engage with government and get themselves involved, in what he said was a once in 25 year opportunity to help shape packaging policy going forward, or risk being left behind.
Opening the evening, APPMA president Mark Dingley welcomed members, and reported that the association now has 160 member companies, up by 65 per cent from two years ago when there were 91. He said this meant good communication was more important than ever.
Dingley welcomed Finlease and insurance broker AEI as inaugural sponsors of the Member Dinner. He then turned to APPEX, the new combined packaging and processing show scheduled for 12-15 March 2024, and said 70 per cent of the space had already been sold.
The show was already at 20 bays compared to 13 last time as AUSPACK. He urged machinery suppliers to book their spaces soon if they hadn’t already done so, as he anticipated the show being “a sell-out".
Foley took the floor and said the REDcycle collapse – which he termed a "PR disaster for packaging and recycling", as well as the growing demonisation of plastic in popular culture and the mainstream media, had led to a collapse in consumer confidence in both plastic packaging and recycling, and a lessening of brand motivation to get on board with recycling. He called the demonisation of plastic "ridiculous".
Questions and reactions from the floor indicated the frustrations many members felt with the lack of leadership from government, with the hotch-potch of messaging out there, and the seeming ability of major retailers to set their own rules and then change them as they wished, therefore impacting on their packaging suppliers, which in turn impacts on the packaging machinery suppliers.
Members also expressed their concerns that any legislation impacting Australian manufactured packaging needs to be applied to packaging imported into the country.
Foley repeatedly and sternly told the audience "the game is changing", and highlighted that strong forces are impacting the ongoing role of packaging in Australia, warning that packaging machinery developers and suppliers need to get proactive in engagement with government.
He opened by reminding members that the four National Packaging Targets for 2025 were set back in 2018, when the role of packaging barely broke into the public discourse, whereas now, friends and relatives are openly talking about packaging, and usually in negative terms.
Of the four targets, the first, to have packaging 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable, was currently at 88 per cent, but he said the remaining 14 per cent was problematic, due to the nature of the materials, and would require significant changes to systems.
Target two, that 70 per cent of plastic packaging should be recycled or composted, was only 54 per cent of the way to its target, representing a gap of 600,000 tonnes of plastic. Although, Foley said a lot of new recycling facilities were being built. He said that circularity was the big issue, saying there were only so many fence posts or garden seats that could be sold, and said that plastic packaging needs to be recycled back into plastic packaging, which, as most of it is used for food, presents real challenges.
Target three, of having 50 per cent average recycled content included in all packaging by 2025, had no chance of being met by soft plastics, according to Foley, which is currently only at three per cent. He said fibre substitution was often touted as a major solution, but he said this had environmental downsides of its own, particularly when it came to issues such as food waste. He said soft plastic recycling had big financial issues – such as who is going to buy the recycled product – but he said significant investment is being made in new facilities.
Target four of phasing out problematic and unnecessary single use plastic was seeing a melange of approaches, some successful, some not so.
He said the biggest challenge in reaching targets was the general sentiment around recycling. He said, “Everyone wanted REDcycle to succeed, so no-one asked any questions. It was a laudable attempt, but with no board oversight, no checks and balances, it was a victim of its own success. So, how do we reset community confidence? What is the pitch to the community?"
Answering his own questions, Foley said the industry is building bridges, and over the next six to 12 months, a succession of announcements should help restore at least some of that confidence back, but said, "brand owners are on tenterhooks, and they are copping a lot of flak, supermarkets in particular".
He told the audience the pressure on plastics, with community concern, and regulatory reform on the horizon, was immense, saying the machinery sector needed to be “well versed in what is happening in this space”. He said, “The system is not working – for packaging recovery and recycling we need a whole system in play. The regulatory framework is up for change and resetting. Government mandate will come in, and the crucial aspect is that the industry needs to be engaged in framing those mandates, and that will be a good thing. Co-regulation is the best way forward, as government mandates will not work on their own. This is a once-in-25-years' opportunity to get it right, and we need to look at it as an opportunity. Don't miss it."
He then outlined the current approach of APCO, as it focuses on materials flows and not materials in isolation, and which has set up working parties on all aspects of packaging.
Questions and the open discussion that followed focused on rebuilding consumer confidence, making sure guidelines for imported plastic packaging were enforced, and asking why the onus was on the food industry to provide infrastructure solutions when the government should be taking the lead. Discussion also centred on food waste, who should take responsibility for soft plastic recycling, and the dilemna faced by brands, whose research showed consumers had green sympathies, but were unwilling to pay another 10 cents to support it.
Members said their "brilliant customers" are getting "smashed" in the debate. Foley pointed to collaborations like Circular Plastics Australia (PET), a joint venture between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi Beverages, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), as one of the ways forward.
Foley ended the formal part of the discussion by saying, “Wherever you are in the value chain, you need to come on down and get involved, this is the opportunity.”
The APPMA NSW Member Dinner took place on the spectacular setting of Sydney Harbour, at the Water function centre, with discussions between the 80-plus members in attendance, following Foley’s presentation, going on long into the evening.
