This year’s final session of Parliament is voting on a new law to stop the export of waste and enact better product stewardship laws. It's a big opportunity to tackle packaging and single use plastics (*background information below).

We need your help to make the new law, which will be debated in the Senate on 9 November, effective. A short email (see below) to key MPs could make the difference.

SEND A MESSAGE TO KEY MPs

You can edit the email subject and add/amend the message. Your email will be sent directly to:

• Hon Trevor Evans MP
• Mr Josh Wilson MP
• Senator Peter Whish-Wilson
• Donald Bundesen
• Senator Rex Patrick
• Senator Stirling Griff
• Senator Jacqui Lambie

<p>I support bans on the export of waste; more investment in domestic recycling in Australia; and stopping packaging waste and plastic pollution.</p> <p>When the Recycling and Waste Bill 2020  is debated in the Senate please support amendments that strengthen it by:</p> <ul> <li>The adding of packaging to the mandatory product stewardship list, with an enforceable target to have all packaging reusable, compostable or recyclable by 2025</li> <li>Labels for reusable, compostable or recyclable packaging must mean they are recovered in practice, not simply claimed to be</li> <li>Support for bans on problematic single-use plastics before 2022.</li> </ul> <p>Regards,<br /><br />(Insert your name here)</p>

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*BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On 9th November the Commonwealth Senate will debate a Recycling and Waste Bill 2020 designed to stop exports of waste to other countries for 'recycling'. Those wastes include tyres, glass and mixed plastics. This is a positive policy that should prevent Australia exporting its waste and promoting more recycling in this country.

The bill can potentially also introduce amongst other things, new measures to reduce single use packaging. The problem is that once again the Commonwealth is endorsing targets to reduce plastics, and then leaving it to the packaging industry to achieve these voluntarily.

The packaging industry promised to reduce its plastic packaging and waste in 1999. For 21 years they have been making promises. According to the industry,* in 1999 the plastic packaging recycling rate was 20%, in 2018 it was 16%.

We think it's time that the agreed packaging targets were made mandatory.

National labelling for reusable, compostable or recyclable packaging should mean all packaging is eco-designed, efficiently collected and then recovered in practice everywhere in Australia.

The Commonwealth must support all states and territories bringing in bans on single use plastics and by 2022. Three governments (South Australia, Queensland and the ACT) are introducing bans on single use plastics. Other states must follow.

*National Recycling and Recovery Survey (NRRS) 2014–15 for plastics packaging-APC
Australian Packaging Consumption & Resource Recovery Data 2019-APCO