Packaging Reform is Still Alive and Your Voice Matters

On September 18, Environment Ministers met in Brisbane, with the future of packaging regulation on the table. For those of us campaigning for stronger action on plastic pollution, a lot was riding on this meeting.

Just weeks earlier, the federal government had confirmed it would not introduce a new Commonwealth packaging scheme this term. This was a major disappointment after years of consultation and previous commitments to strengthen packaging regulation. The Government’s own consultation found that more than 80% of respondents preferred Commonwealth regulation of packaging and 65% backed the mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme that legally requires companies to take responsibility for their packaging. In other words, the Commonwealth Government decided against the very reform most people had asked for.

Would packaging reform now be put on the shelf while Australia’s plastic pollution problem continued to grow? Thankfully, no.

 

Packaging reform remains on the agenda

In the weeks before the meeting, a wide range of voices made clear that more delay wasn’t good enough. This included environmental groups, recyclers, circular economy businesses, council, industry and thousands of everyday Australians. It worked. Ministers confirmed that reform of packaging rules, including soft plastics, remains an environmental priority. Federal, state and territory governments have now agreed to work together and with industry to strengthen the rules and iron out the inconsistent bans on problematic plastics across different states and territories.

It’s not yet the national mandatory EPR scheme Take 3 and many others have been calling for. But importantly, packaging reform has not disappeared from the national agenda.

 

There is an important lesson here. When people speak up, governments listen.

 

Your voice makes a difference

When Take 3 and other organisations ask you to contact your local MP, sign a petition, write to a Minister or simply make some noise about plastic pollution, these actions can help build the pressure needed to keep an issue moving.

The broad coalition of voices that responded to the Government’s initial decision sent a clear message: Australia cannot afford to keep delaying packaging reform.

 

Why EPR matters

Extended Producer Responsibility is based on a straightforward principle: companies that put packaging onto the Australian market should take greater responsibility for what happens to that packaging throughout its life. Done properly, a mandatory national EPR framework can help create incentives to reduce unnecessary packaging, improve packaging design, increase recycled content, improve recyclability and create stronger markets for recovered materials.

 

This is critical for Australia’s transition towards a circular economy. Australian recycling businesses need reliable demand for the materials they recover. Businesses investing in better packaging need clear and consistent rules. Communities and councils shouldn’t continue carrying so much of the burden of dealing with packaging waste after it has been sold. And most importantly, we need to reduce the enormous volume of plastic being produced, consumed and discarded in the first place.

 

We can’t clean our way out of the plastic pollution crisis. We need to turn off the plastic tap.

 

This campaign isn’t over

Take 3 will continue working alongside organisations across Australia advocating for a strong, nationally consistent and mandatory approach to Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. That includes our friends and colleagues across the Boomerang Alliance. Together we’re a coalition of more than 50 organisations working to reduce waste and pollution in Australia.

The September Environment Ministers’ Meeting was not the breakthrough we ultimately need. But it demonstrated that packaging reform remains alive and there is still a pathway to stronger national action. As governments continue this work, you can expect to hear much more from Take 3 about how you can help.

Because after nearly two decades of picking up plastic from our beaches, waterways, parks and neighbourhoods, we know one thing very clearly: Cleaning up matters. But preventing the pollution in the first place matters even more.

If you’d like to support Take 3’s work to turn off the plastic tap through education, community action and stronger policy, please get involved, contact us or make a donation today.