Australia will not introduce mandatory packaging standards this term

The Australian federal government will not introduce mandatory national packaging standards aimed at reducing plastic waste during its current term in office. As ABC News Australia reports, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water explained the decision by its desire not to increase pressure associated with the rising cost of living. Instead of a nationwide scheme, federal authorities will work with states and territories on opportunities to improve packaging standards. Environment Minister Murray Watt said the government would focus on aligning packaging and waste-recycling policies across jurisdictions to reduce waste, lessen regulatory differences for businesses and minimise costs for consumers. 2023 agreement In June 2023, state and territory environment ministers agreed with then federal minister Tanya Plibersek to introduce packaging standards. They were to include minimum targets for recycled content in packaging and restrictions on the use of harmful chemicals in food wrappers. Minimum requirements for the federal scheme had not been finalised before the plan was scrapped. At the same time, national targets set in 2018 envisaged an average of 50% recycled content in packaging. According to the latest Australian Packaging Consumption and Recovery data for 2023–2024, 28% of rigid plastic and 9% of soft plastic were reused, recycled or recovered. More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram. Industry reaction Representatives of the recycling industry said the decision came as a surprise to them. Suzanne Toumbourou, chief executive of the Australian Council of Recycling, said Australian plastic recycling businesses operate at about half of their available capacity on average. According to her, without such obligations, local recyclers will remain at a competitive disadvantage compared with cheap imported plastic. Last week, one of the country's largest companies in the sector, Recycling Plastics Australia, entered voluntary administration, putting about 60 jobs in question. In 2024, the company received A$20 million in federal funding to accelerate soft-plastic recycling. MRA Consulting managing director Mike Ritchie said the government had not prepared a regulatory impact assessment for the proposed federal scheme. According to calculations he carried out jointly with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, mandatory standards could add about 0.3 cents to the cost of a unit of packaging — approximately 20 cents to a weekly basket of 60 products. Murray Watt's office did not respond to an ABC request regarding economic modelling of the scheme's potential impact on the cost of living. Read us on Telegram and Sends Download our app