In its submission to the Senate Inquiry on Commonwealth waste and recycling policies, the Boomerang Alliance has called for Commonwealth action to fix national waste laws.

The only way to reduce and eliminate waste is to abandon the linear economy model of make-use-throwaway and switch to a circular economy approach. The best way to achieve this is for producers of products to be responsible for their products through their entire lifecycle, not just when they manufacture them.

The Boomerang Alliance has called for:

•  A national circular economy policy framework and its regulated adoption by all States and Territories.
• All existing and future product stewardship schemes are to be mandatory schemes.
• Commonwealth policies are to be aligned with State and Territory bans on particular products and landfill disposal, and the promotion of reuse of resources. 

The soft plastics producers and retailers are gearing up to propose a product stewardship scheme. Some useful research was released at the National Soft Plastics Summit on 25 September including about the use of special kerbside collections for household soft plastics to replace the failed REDcycle scheme.

The Boomerang Alliance has today challenged the packaging industry to take full responsibility, implement effective collections and pay for the costs of soft plastic waste and pollution.

The Boomerang Alliance has today challenged the packaging industry to take full responsibility and pay for the costs of its waste and pollution decisions and urges the government to regulate the sector, with the release of its model guidelines for a best practice Product Stewardship Scheme for Packaging.

With the NSW container refund scheme (CRS), Return & Earn about to recover its 10billionth beverage container, environmental groups are calling for the state government to move on including wine, spirit and other containers in the successful recycling program.

From today 1 September, plastic stemmed cotton buds, plastic microbeads and polystyrene loose fill packaging will be banned in Queensland. The plastics used in these products are all problem wastes and alternatives exist for all these items. It will be interesting to see how the loose fill polystyrene packaging rules work, given that these are not national requirements. Certainly suppliers in Queensland will not be able to use polystyrene for Queensland customers.

The Boomerang Alliance has released its Choosing to Reuse In Australia Report. Our organisation is calling for a rapid increase in the use of reusable packaging to reduce plastic pollution and carbon emissions. The report outlines the many opportunities that are currently available, particularly for takeaway services, and just waiting for government and business support.

In a historic agreement, Australia’s Environment Ministers have committed to introducing mandatory packaging waste recovery targets, which could transform Australia’s packaging landscape. Reducing and recycling plastic packaging will no longer be a matter of voluntary or co-regulatory action.

Environment groups today hailed the decision by Australia's environment ministers to regulate how packaging is used and produced as the first substantial and meaningful step to turn the corner after 20 years of failed voluntary programs, pollution and waste.

As another World Environment Day occurs, Australia faces crucial decisions on how to stop plastic waste killing wildlife and harming human health.