ACOR calls for urgent action on plastic packaging
According to ACOR, Australia uses more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging each year – most of it imported – yet over a million tonnes still end up landfilled or littered.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) is calling on the Federal Government to urgently introduce packaging reforms or risk the collapse of Australia’s plastic recycling sector and face millions of tonnes of plastic waste continuing to pollute the environment.
According to ACOR, Australia uses more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging each year – most of it imported – yet over a million tonnes still end up landfilled or littered.
The Council said that although Australian recyclers have the capability to process recyclable plastic, limited demand for locally recycled plastic packaging is placing facilities at risk of scaling back or closing – meaning more plastic waste, greater reliance on imported plastics, the loss of thousands of local jobs, and greater adverse climate impacts.
An economic analysis undertaken by Rennie Advisory for ACOR and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) determined that reform to ensure all packaging meets strict design standards, is made with recycled materials, and is recyclable or reusable can help build a stronger, cleaner, more self-reliant economy.
It would also give Australian businesses the certainty they need to keep investing in packaging that meets best-practice design standards.
The analysis, outlined in the Securing Australia’s Plastic Recycling Future report, determined that introducing a fee-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, whereby brand owners and producers take responsibility for what happens to their plastic packaging after it’s disposed of, would have a negligible cost impact, adding just 0.1 per cent to product costs.
Properly designed, ACOR said such a scheme would level the playing field, ensuring companies that have already invested in better packaging are recognised and supported, and that laggards are brought up to the same standard.
If implemented within the current term of the Government, the analysis found packaging reforms could deliver the following benefits over the next five years:
Reduce the amount of plastic waste polluting the environment by 370,000 tonnes a year.
Increase economic activity in Australia by $2.5 billion in gross value-add.
Spur additional investment of $220 million in private capital.
Create almost 20,000 new jobs.
Reduce CO2 emissions from plastic by 700,000 tonnes a year.
The development of National Packaging Laws was agreed to by the Australian Government in 2023, in response to low rate of plastic recycling rates and the need to shift Australia from a “take, make, waste” model to a sustainable circular economy.
Courtesy: www.packagingnews.com.au