The Breakdown is a monthly column giving industry leaders and decision makers a chance to share their views on topics central to the sector. This month we asked: “Should Australia follow Europe’s lead and introduce a tax on plastic packaging waste that is not recycled?”
Andrea Polson, General Manager – Stakeholder Engagement & Communications, Licella
A plastic tax in isolation is not considering the systems-wide transformation that needs to happen to create circularity for plastic packaging. Let’s prioritise fixing the economics, as they drive action. Investment is crucial for system transformation, and this needs to be backed by policies and regulation. In the absence of mandated obligations on recycled content, the linear economy remains more profitable, and so will continue. We need both the “carrot” (incentives) and the “stick” (a disincentive) to drive action. Whether the stick is a plastic tax (like the UK) or mandated recycled content in packaging (like the EU), Australia needs to consider the whole value chain, both investment and policy, to drive meaningful change. Industry requires clear mandates to unlock investment capital and we need new technology and infrastructure, such as advanced recycling, to unlock a circular economy for plastic packaging.
Richard Kirkman, Chief Executive Officer, Veolia
Australia will miss at least two out of the four 2025 National Packaging targets, so a strong market signal is needed to increase levels of recycling and the use of recycled content in plastic packaging. To meet our targets, we also need to secure self-sustaining end markets for recycled content and incentives to produce that outcome, whether a tax levy or fee in a mandatory product stewardship scheme. Any fee or tax should be varied according to weight, whether an item is disposable or recyclable, how much recycled material it contains, or other qualities that will encourage recycling markets. The reason this levy makes sense is when we make packaging recyclable, we reduce costs to local authorities who foot the bill for waste services, landfilling and cleaning up litter. Dealing with our waste according to best global practice means reducing cost of living pressures.
Dimitris Dimoliatis, MRA Consulting
Plastics add great value to our society. However, the escape of plastic (and often single-use plastic packaging) to the environment is a real problem. Stopping plastic pollution requires four key actions: bans to eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging, better collection and recovery options (e.g. CDS systems), significant increases in pollution fines and enforcement and international aid to assist other countries to collect and safely dispose/recycle plastic waste. Financial incentives are always the most economically efficient ways to drive behaviour change and system reform. So, as long as the funds raised by a plastic levy, are directed to these four goals, then it would help reduce plastic pollution.
