In just over two years and seven months, the deadline for Australia to achieve the 2025 National Packaging Targets will arrive, and we are currently on track to fail to meet them.
Since 2018, the Targets have set voluntary goals for the percentage of recycled material used in product packaging, the amount of plastic packaging being recycled, and the total amount of packaging sold that contains recycled material. They are an attempt to reduce the use of virgin plastics in packaging, improve the sustainability of the products we consume, and to build a viable Australian recycling industry.
Rather than seeing big steps toward achieving these goals, we’ve instead witnessed the unravelling of the nation’s soft plastics recycling scheme, continued misalignment of approaches between states, and just last week, the federal government having no choice but to green light the export of up to 20,000 tonnes of plastic waste for processing overseas due to a lack of domestic processing capacity.
Our collective failure isn’t due to a lack of ambition. Together with our partners at Cleanaway, Asahi and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Pact has built Australia’s largest PET plastic recycling facility in Albury, NSW that creates a closed loop solution for PET beverage bottles. This plant has capacity to process 20,000 tonnes of PET plastic a year – the equivalent of 1 billion 600ml PET bottles – collected through container deposit schemes and kerbside recycling. A second similar facility with the same joint venture partners is nearly complete in Melbourne, which means a further 20,000 tonnes or one billion PET beverage bottles will be recycled in Victoria.
But while many manufacturers, retailers and brand owners are rising to the challenge to meet our 2025 National Packaging Targets, too many are not. Virgin plastics are still used in locally made packaging and just 18 per cent of plastic is recycled, with the rest sent to landfill. Clearly, a voluntary approach isn’t generating the sector-wide change Australia needs to meet the National Packaging Targets and it’s time to for a tougher approach to spur the changes we need.
Firstly, packaging targets are not enough – it’s time for strict packaging design requirements, set by regulation or even legislation if necessary. Minimum recycled content in packaging should be set at a hard floor, and all plastic packaging must be required to be designed with recyclability in mind. A mandated push will ensure businesses who are lagging are incentivised to take the necessary steps to catch up to industry leaders.
Secondly, mandates also need to be backed with appropriate penalties. For those businesses that don’t meet threshold requirements, a financial penalty should be considered. This would both disincentivise businesses from continuing to waste resources and raise valuable revenue to reinvest in incentives.
Thirdly, governments must prioritise greater investment in creating new facilities and supply chains. Developing industry partnerships and pathways doesn’t come for free. Additional government investment and finance opportunities will encourage businesses to take the leap into developing new systems that meet a stricter code.
Finally, industry must step up to the plate. Australians are looking to us to lead a solution to the problem and work collaboratively to achieve the scale it needs to become reliable and affordable. When industry as a whole commits to making change, not just one or two businesses, we all stand to gain from lower costs, more reliable supply, and a boost in confidence from increasingly conscious consumers.
These ideas aren’t new. The EU introduced similar measures in 2021, and the United Kingdom began enforcing a Plastic Packaging Tax the following year. Germany has established industry partnerships that support one of the highest recycling rates in the world. These reforms are achievable, valuable and tested – we just need the will to implement them.
Australians expect the products they place in recycling bins to be recycled, and they expect industry and government to deliver a system that prevent plastic waste from entering the litter stream and clogging up our landfills.
If we want to create a sustainable, circular economy and reap the environmental and economic rewards that come with it, we need to give it the push it requires.
