The Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is working to revise the national packaging regulation, with plans to revisit its kerbside recyclability grading framework this year.
Environment ministers agreed to reform national packaging regulation in 2022 – setting out recovery, reuse, recycling, and safe reprocessing as circular economy principles for all packaging to meet.
The revised regulation is anticipated to improve environmental outcomes for packaging by minimizing waste and encouraging investment to improve packaging design and recovery systems.
Additionally, it is hoped to support Australia’s transition into a circular economy and, in turn, support related industries and jobs.
After undertaking public consultation in October 2024, the government found that 95% of respondents supported the reform of packaging regulation to establish a circular economy in Australia and reduce the environmental impacts of packaging.
Among the respondents, 35% represented industry or business; 33% were individuals or households; 11% worked for the government; another 11% comprised a representative body; 6% hailed from an NGO or community group; 1% were academics; and the remaining 3% were labelled as ‘other’.
Over 80% of respondents preferred Commonwealth regulation of packaging. Nationwide harmonization for such measures as kerbside recycling rules and container deposit schemes was generally preferred.
Many respondents were in favour of measures to avoid, reduce, and reuse waste, especially plastic packaging. There was strong support for a national ban on a ‘limited set’ of ‘problematic’ packaging inputs, including carbon black, oxo-degradables, and PFAS.
Furthermore, 65% backed an EPR scheme with mandatory requirements in a hybrid model with national mandatory requirements for packaging and/or stronger administration of the existing co-regulatory arrangement.
The DCCEEW went on to run an independent working group and develop Australia’s Design for Kerbside Recyclability Grading Framework. It is intended to gauge the recyclability of different packaging materials and demonstrate best practice, although it is open to revision over time.
Designs are graded on a scale from A-G. Packaging in the A-B tiers can be reprocessed into food-grade recyclate; the C-D tiers represent multi-material designs with lower recovery yields; and formats in the E-G tiers are considered incompatible with kerbside recycling and container deposit schemes.
Products in the lower tiers are expected to be redesigned, sent to alternative recovery and reprocessing pathways, or eliminated from the market.
This year, the DCCEEW plans to consult stakeholders and assess whether the framework is accurate and fit-for-purpose. There has not yet been a final decision as to whether the framework will be incorporated into new regulations.
While options are being explored, the existing co-regulatory arrangement will remain in place. Businesses are required to keep working towards the National Packaging Targets, which include:
- 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging;
- 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted;
- 50% average recycled content included in packaging;
- The phase-out of ‘problematic’ and unnecessary single-use plastics packaging.
These targets were set with an original deadline of 2025, but a revised target date will be released. In the meantime, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organization (APCO) offers a 2030 Strategic Plan, which sets out a 100% reduction, reuse, and recovery target for packaging in Australia; a 70% recycled or composted target for plastic packaging; an average threshold of 50% recycled content for packaging; and a landfill reduction target of 1 million tonnes.
Last year, APCO CEO Chris Foley and Renata Daudt, sustainable packaging consultant with AWEN Packaging Consulting, joined us on the Packaging Europe podcast. They discussed Australia’s upcoming packaging regulations and the ways it had learned from, and itself informed, the European approach.
GPT Circular and iQRenew went on to finalize quality and specification criteria for the use of Australian soft plastics in global advanced chemical recycling. The move was hoped to keep contamination low, ensure efficient processing, and result in food-grade packaging materials.
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