The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has released its review of the 2025 National Packaging Targets and is calling for a stronger co-regulatory framework that strikes a balance between industry-led action and effective government regulation.
Chris Foley, APCO Chief Executive Officer, said: “There have been some fantastic contributions from many businesses so it is disappointing that the headline data indicates targets will not all be met”.
APCO members have reported considerable action that supports the transition to a circular economy for packaging and the 2025 Targets are a key driver.
Despite positive action by some, the report identifies the need for further improvement of packaging design and the expansion of business-to-business recycling as key opportunities.
“It is time for many businesses to do more to reduce the impact of their packaging and improve its recoverability,” Foley said.
The need for a whole-of-packaging system approach to overcoming barriers to progress has also been identified.
“The task at hand is much bigger than any one business. Collaboration and co-operation across the packaging industry, government, waste and recycling sectors is needed to drive change,” Foley said.
The report outlines four key findings:
- While the 2025 Targets are driving a transformation in packaging in Australia, they are not on track to be met by 2025.
- Longer-term vision is needed to guide action.
- Collaboration is needed across the entire packaging system.
- Strong and co-ordinated interventions are needed on essential packaging material streams.
The report also prioritises actions needed across the supply chain to drive effective, whole-of-system movement towards a circular economy for packaging. It also clearly identifies those responsible at each step.
“APCO is focusing its resources on helping businesses and bringing the entire system together to close the gap on targets for the benefit of the environment, the community and the economy,” Foley said. “If industry cannot do better as a whole, governments will pursue harder regulation.
“It is clear a stronger co-regulatory framework that brings in and aligns the entire packaging system and creates an even playing field for all will help to further reduce environmental impacts and deliver community and economic benefits.
“The review of the co-regulatory framework underway at the moment is an opportunity to reset. This is a once in 25-year opportunity to help strengthen compliance, protect public interest, and ensure accountability across the packaging system while supporting innovation, competition and investment.”
Recommendations delivered as part of the co-regulatory review that could form part of a new, stronger co-regulatory framework include centralised oversight and increased participation across the system, actions to reduce free riders, and stronger integration of design standards.
The release of the review was also welcomed by the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR). Suzanne Toumbourou, ACOR Chief Executive Officer, said now is the time to redouble efforts and work collaboratively across sectors to ensure a circular economy for packaging is achieved.
“We welcome APCO’s call to action, which outlines a longer-term vision, collaboration across the entire packaging system, and strong and co-ordinated interventions for essential material streams.
“Stronger regulatory interventions are necessary to support the uptake of the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines and embed minimum standards for Australian recycled content in packaging. A stronger regulatory framework, supporting circular design and robust end markets for recycled material, is a step in the right direction.”
The National Retail Association has also welcomed the review. David Stout, Director of Policy, said the review outlines the significant amount of work undertaken by APCO and industry to deliver targets and highlights the need for more collaboration and co-regulatory support.
“If you look at any sustainability report from business, they’re doing a lot of positive things. Businesses lead the charge in both compliance and exceeding expectations, and we have seen hundreds of examples of this from across the supply chain,” Stout said.
“We’ve been on the ground, engaging with businesses across Australia on the single-use plastic bans and we commend business for investing time and resources to adopt more sustainable initiatives.
“Industry has collaborated and successfully implemented initiatives including the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL), state and territory single-use plastic bans and Container Deposit Schemes (CDS) and, the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS,” Stout said.
See the review at: www.packagingcovenant.org.au
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