Earlier this month, Visy and Nine Newspapers hosted the Recycling Roundtable with Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, major food and beverage manufacturers and local government.
At the roundtable, attendees discussed how to strengthen the recycling sector and continue to work towards transitioning to a circular economy.
Visy CEO Mark De Wit said Visy is proud to be the biggest recycler in Australia turning that material into new packaging.
“At Visy we believe materials are not recycled until they’ve been made into new products. Throwing items in a bin and then sorting the materials alone is not recycling.
“We strongly support national standards for material eligibility, kerbside harmonisation, and standardised labelling for packaging. These changes will reduce contamination and increase resource recovery, keeping material out of landfill.
The call for standardisation was echoed by the industry leaders present representing major brand owners like Nestle, Unilever, Lion and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, some of the country's biggest end users of packaging.
As reported by Nine's masthead Sydney Morning Herald, the leaders present called on Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to impose packaging and recycling standards on the industry to ensure the rules are consistent across the states, so preventing laggards from benefitting from cheaper costs.
It was clear from the discussion that there is strong support for mandates, as well as the use of the Australasian Recycling Label. Consistency in waste collection regulations across all states was also flagged as a priority.
Plibersek has been outspoken about industry needing to step up, promising to introduce recycling and packaging regulation. Industry has been waiting with bated breath for a formal announcement from government, and word in the market is that the timing is imminent. A stumbling block has been getting state and territory governments to agree on key points in the proposed regulation.
For Visy's part, De Witt said the company is investing and working with customers to increase the amount of recycled paper, glass, metals and plastics is used in products.
In the past year, Visy has launched new, Australian-made products, made from 100 per cent recycled content to replace single-use plastic or problematic materials. Soft plastic shopping bags are easily replaced by its 100 per cent recycled paper alternative, which are being rolled out in supermarkets across the country. Visy is also selling surface protection for renovators and painters – called Visy Tread – made out of 100 per cent recycled paper to replace imported materials and/or plastic drop sheets.
Visy owns the largest network of materials recovery facilities in Australia and processes recyclables from over 3.8 million households and more than 8700 commercial and industrial customers. In 2023, Visy sorted and processed more than 1.8 million tonnes of recyclables.
