Close×

The Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) will announce a new board structure and five-year-plan by the end of 2016.

The “enhanced Covenant”, according to new CEO Trish Hyde, will be officially launched in January 2017.

“We will see more collaborative, targeted approaches to minimising the environmental impacts of packaging, she said.

“We are also changing the way we are governed and operate, so that we are more accountable, transparent and relevant – including becoming a company regulated by ASIC and the ACNC, and adopting a new board structure with industry and independent directors to provide stewardship.”

Trish-Hyde_headshot-11_A2DDF4D0-FFA5-11E5-8AA706B2CCB88DF31 Trish Hyde

In a letter to the APC, Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt confirmed ongoing government support for the Covenant.

He said the Covenant was “a central tool in addressing the environmental impacts of consumer packaging”.

Hunt is currently working with ministers on a joint statement about the scope and goals of the agreement.

In collaboration with industry and jurisdictions, the Covenant will draw on these recommendations for its five-year strategic plan.

Hyde said compliance conditions and reporting requirements would remain unchanged, and signatories should budget for their annual contribution in the coming financial year.

Food & Drink Business

Wine Australia is running a coordinated program of trade, education and promotional activity across the Asia Pacific, backed by federal government funding, as the sector works to rebuild demand in China and diversify into Southeast Asia.

Australian beef exporters face a 55 per cent tariff on shipments to China for the rest of 2026 after the country exhausted its annual safeguard quota in under six months, removing tariff-free access to one of the sector’s largest markets.

A Western Australian truffle grower says it has unearthed the state’s first cultivated white truffle, opening a potential new product line for a region that already supplies the bulk of the Southern Hemisphere’s black truffle.