A panel discussion with leaders of peak industry bodies at the recent Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) 2025 and beyond conference, looked at progress towards the 2025 targets, and important next steps.
The panel comprised Rebecca Gilling, CEO of Planet Ark; Geoff Parker, CEO of the Australian Beverages Council; Greg Griffith, CEO of the National Retail Association; and Chris Foley, CEO of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation.
Gilling kicked things off by talking about the hierarchy of the three Rs, saying that the top of the list should add a “refuse”, meaning that use of materials should be the first concern – not only refusing a product in its entirety but refusing to have virgin materials within a product.
Redesign should then come second on the list, as in rethinking how packaging is designed to consider the whole of life of the packaging, from creation to use to reuse, she said. Recycling comes further down the list, and recovery is at the bottom.
Parker spoke with enthusiasm about Container Deposit Schemes (CDS). He said that once Victoria and Tasmania get on board then next year Australia will be the only country to be totally covered by such schemes.
The main hindrance to progress, in his view, is the “patchwork” of different policies across the country and even within each state. It is localised policies, he says, which is slowing down progress.
Foley spoke of the need to focus on the long term, beyond 2025, and that a reset was in need. He said a whole of systems approach is necessary, with collaboration across the board in order to tackle the current problems.
Foley later told PKN in a live podcast interview: “There needs to be a reset across the system as far as who takes accountability, how we actually bring product stewardship to life for packaging, and have the right economic levers being pulled to recover the cost or to put money back into the system, to be able to capture, recycle and reuse those materials. Packaging needs to be seen as an asset.”
Griffith explained that the National Retail Association’s purpose is to support smaller retailers and help them to navigate and understand the expectations of government and industry. He said that a lot of retailers are making good decisions, and have positive intentions, however, there is a lot of nervousness around the costs associated with sustainability, especially for those whose business is smaller.
The presentations were followed by a Q&A session, where attendees had the chance to ask their most pressing questions. The AIP’s Jason Fields asked Gilling a short but pertinent question, “paper or plastic?”
She responded by saying that despite the increasing demonisation of plastic, it is in fact a “fantastic material” for preventing food waste. She said there is much confusion among the community about this, due to messaging around plastics polluting the ocean.
As a result, she said, there has been an increase in fibre-based packaging, which she maintained can leak toxins into food products via the chemicals in the barrier layer added to make the packaging grease and water proof.
Gilling proposed that rather than abandoning plastic, we should instead focus on using it more sustainably. Foley chimed in and said that plastic is definitely a part of a sustainable economy, but more infrastructure is needed to make it so, and this comes with a cost.
Another attendee said he had to address the elephant in the room and asked Foley for an update on the soft plastics recycling scheme, with reference to the Soft Plastics Taskforce. Foley’s response was guarded, noting that APCO was not actually involved in the taskforce but was an observer.
He said there is a lot of work underway to develop short term fixes over the next 12 months, and there are meetings currently being held with the Australian Food and Grocery Council to engage with the ACCC to finalise a playbook on filling the gap left by REDcycle. Foley stated that in the coming weeks we will hear more about this.
The major challenge, according to Foley, is building confidence that the system will work, especially with investors. “There is also a need for better governance, and so APCO will move in to try to gain access and make sue the scheme actually does what it says it does, ensuring brands can go in with confidence,” Foley said.
Foley added that they are working on various stewardship schemes to work out who will front the costs, to which Griffith responded that those costs can’t just be put on the consumer.
Closed the Loop Group’s CEO Joe Foster asked whether the targets for soft plastics will be changed if we can’t meet them, to which Foley responded that they won’t.
“The numbers aren’t ‘new news’, and progress is slow at best. The government is looking at it and saying if industry doesn’t engage and support stewardship schemes, they will get involved,” Foley stated.
Gilling noted that she has observed in Australian businesses less willingness to collaborate than in their European counterparts. Her comment came as a pertinent reminder of the crucial need to collaborate, which all speakers mentioned in their closing remarks.
