The Commonwealth Government has just released its long-awaited proposed Packaging Reform Discussion paper. They recognise that the voluntary arrangements in place for over 25 years have failed. We are nowhere near meeting any recycling or recovery targets.
The government package proposes three options:
- A continuation of the current (co-regulatory) voluntary arrangements (albeit with strengthened arrangements),
- mandating requirements that include bans on problem packaging and
- an EPR (product stewardship) scheme where producers will be responsible for meeting packaging targets
- The Boomerang Alliance supports option 3- Extended producer responsibility. This needs to include mandatory targets for packaging reduction, reuse as well as recycling. This approach should be augmented with bans on problematic packaging and standards that ensure all packaging is recovered in practice.
An example of EPR is the container refund scheme, where the beverage industry is responsible for the collection and recycling of cans and bottles. South Australia has had a scheme for over 40 years but for the rest of Australia, the CRS has tripled recycling and slashed can and bottle litter.
The big omission in the Commonwealth paper is a lack of immediate proposals on soft plastics. Since the collapse of the REDcycle scheme -two years ago-virtually all soft plastics have gone to waste or are being littered. According to CUA Rubbish Report 2023, soft plastics are now the most littered category of plastics in Australia and represent over 34% of all litter collected.
The Boomerang Alliance is calling for an industry-funded product stewardship scheme for soft plastics to be fast-tracked now. This scheme should include both kerbside and in-store soft plastics collection, with a return for recycling.
Thousands of households have been stockpiling their plastics for the last two years and we are calling on the major supermarkets to organise in-store collections now for their customers to return soft plastics that can go straight to recycling.
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