When it comes to the impact of plastics on the environment – there’s no good news. And increasingly microplastics are infiltrating humans.
The years of voluntary industry programs like the Australian Packaging Covenant to recycle and redesign products and meet national targets have failed.
I don’t need to repeat the alarming projections on expected growth in plastic pollution to further make the point.
It’s a crisis. But are we seeing the seeds of change?
When I mean change, I mean policies, laws, industry acquiescence and the mounting public acceptance of change that could make a real difference. Australia is where this might be happening.
First the single use takeaway sector. States, notably Western Australian, Queensland and South Australia are making substantial inroads into banning a wide range of products.
Lightweight plastic bags were first and now all non-reusable bags are being banned, backed up by set reusable standards. So no longer will we have the fake ‘’reusable’’ bag (usually of a thicker film), that appeared after the bans on bags of less than 35mrns.
Plastic plates, straws, utensils and bowls were next. The curse of polystyrene foodware is disappearing.
The next tranche includes “degradable’’ plastics and plastic lined cups and balloons. Perhaps even cigarette butts. And there’s more to come.
These actions will substantially reduce our away from home plastic footprint. Industry is anxious about the lack of harmonisation between the states, as to date no common national approach has emerged. Environmentalists were concerned that a move towards harmonisation might lead to the lowest common denominator, but this now seems unlikely with New South Wales aiming to catch up with the more advanced states with its latest policy.
There’s hope a quality national approach is on the horizon.
Packaging is a massive user of plastics. However, with the repercussions from the collapse of REDcycle (another failed voluntary program) moves to regulate the soft plastics industry and wider sector are afoot. In their latest communique, environment ministers pledged to regulate and the Commonwealth will soon issue a consultation document on mandatory targets, underlain by product stewardship responsibilities. 2024 should see a new, regulated scheme emerge.
The Boomerang Alliance has issued a best practice model and is campaigning for its adoption. The main element is a requirement to make packaging producers responsible for the design, collection, and recovery of their products through their entire lifecycle (extended producer responsibility). The soft plastics sector, led by the Food and Grocery Council, seem to be walking down this road – but firm details are yet to appear. A recent audit by Australian Marine Conservation Society and Boomerang highlights the challenges facing the big stores.
Of course, we already have a successful packaging stewardship scheme – 10 cent container refunds for drink bottles and cans. With just Tasmania left to start, we are now recycling about 65 per cent of all the beverage containers – and now need to aim higher.
Australia has had a 70 per cent recycling target by 2025 for some years, but it’s now agreed by all stakeholders that we won’t meet it. Two further components of future efforts need to be in place and the environment groups are campaigning for a 20 per cent reduction by 2030 in plastic packaging; and 30 per cent reusables target.
Finally, there are negotiations underway for an international plastics treaty. They are excruciating for the participants as the fossil fuel lobby manoeuvres to stop a cap on or reduction in plastic production. Discussions are slated to conclude in 2024/5.
Australia should still act with all speed and become a model for action on plastic pollution. The next 12 months will reveal if we are going to take the big leap to stop our plastic and over packaging addictions.
