ANZPAC Plastics Pact releases Impact Report

The ANZPAC (Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands) Plastics Pact has released the first ANZPAC Impact Report, providing a crucial look at how the region is progressing towards the development of a circular economy for plastic.

The ANZPAC Impact Report contains aggregated data from ANZPAC Member Reports from 2021, the year the program was launched, and delivers on ANZPAC’s commitment to a transparent and data-driven approach towards circularity. The benchmarking data provides insight into the gaps and opportunities for future collective action of members and tracks progress towards the ANZPAC Regional Plastics Targets.

Chris Foley, APCO Chief Executive Officer, said: “The data confirms that whilst we have a long way to go to the 2025 ANZPAC Regional Plastics Targets, members are already undertaking upstream initiatives, and some materials have a reliable recovery pathway.

“However, collection presents a considerable issue towards increasing recovery rates in the region, while reuse systems are failing to reach significant scale. The vast distances of remote and regional geographies and data gaps across the ANZPAC region are presenting challenges that must be considered when developing up and downstream circular solutions.

“It is vital that businesses across the region continue, accelerate, and expand their efforts to reduce the impact of plastic packaging. We have seen some fantastic collaboration and innovation in a very challenging space, but, put simply, more needs to be done. Co-operation across the industry and with governments across the region will be critical to driving change, particular in those areas in need of significant investment in recycling infrastructure.”

The report outlines key findings for each of the Regional Plastics Targets:

Target 1 – Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign, innovation and alternative (reuse) delivery models. Result – 2,232 tonnes of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging were eliminated by Pact Members during the reporting period.

Target 2 – 100 per cent of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. Result – 63 per cent of plastic packaging put on the market by ANZPAC Members is currently designed for end-of-life recoverability (reuse, recycling, or composting).

Target 3 – Increase plastic packaging collected and effectively recycled by at least 25 per cent for each geography within the ANZPAC region. Result – 16 per cent recovery rate recovery of plastic packaging placed onto the market across the ANZPAC region comprising 25.8 per cent recovery rate of plastic packaging placed onto the market in New Zealand; 15.9 per cent recovery rate of plastic packaging placed onto the market in Australia; and 0.1% per cent recovery rate of plastic packaging placed onto the market in Pacific Island Countries.

Target 4 – Average of 25 per cent recycled content in plastic packaging across the region. Result – 7.5 per cent average of recycled content included in plastic packaging across ANZPAC brand owner and retailers.

The report can be accessed here.