ISSUE 125
27 Too many frameworks? 32 Sustainable composting 40 Upcoming Events
Getting onboard with product stewardship schemes By Inside Waste
Image: DAN_SHMIT/shutterstock.com
The case for higher refund values in CDS’s By Samantha Millette and Robert Kelman
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
Australia faces a mounting waste crisis. According to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Australia uses nearly 7 million tonnes of packaging every year, with almost half (44 per cent) ending up in landfill. Of the post-consumer packaging that ended up in landfills in 2021-22, 33 per cent was plastic packaging, 14 per cent was glass packaging, and 5 per cent was metalbased packaging. The Australian Government has set ambitious national targets to address this. Established in 2018, the 2025 National Packaging Targets aim for 100 per cent of packaging produced in Australia to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. They also
include a goal for 70 per cent of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted and a mandate requiring an average of 50 per cent recycled content in packaging by the same deadline. Despite some progress, recent data indicates that achieving these targets is unlikely.1 While 84 per cent of packaging (plastic, cardboard, metal) is recyclable, less than 20 percent of plastic packaging is actually recycled. 2 Australia needs a regulated packaging scheme that covers the net costs of recycling and pushes used packaging through from collection to end markets. Reloop looks forward to working through 2025 with our federal colleagues to realise this potential. Meanwhile, we have state-based CRS-EPR schemes on beverage containers that are
among the least effective in the world. In 2022, Australia’s State Heads of EPA’s (HEPA) released consumer studies 3 that demonstrated a combination of collection point inconvenience and the low $0.10 refund value were the key obstacles to consumer participation in Australia’s schemes and the resultant low and stagnating return rates. This article looks at why consumers did not engage in a CRS, and outlines key data sets for this conclusion. In November 2023, HEPA also committed to ‘assessing the regulatory impacts of increasing the refund value’4, as part of a suite of measures to rebuild consumer participation, though like the CRS return rates, this policy process seems to have stagnated. (Continued on page 8)
During the Waste Expo held in Melbourne at the end of 2024, one of the key seminars was titled Advancing Product Stewardship Schemes and Extended Producer Responsibility in Australia. It was an apt title. Product Stewardship can be a triggering word in some parts of the industry. Should it be compulsory and legislated? Should it be voluntary? How much responsibility is in the hands of the manufacturers? The buying public? Councils? Government? Advancing the ideals of product stewardship leads to healthy and robust debate. The panel who discussed the theme consisted of various people who had a horse in the race. On board were Sophi MacMillan, CEO of flooring product stewardship initiative ResiLoop; Danielle Kent, general manager of Industry Transformation at clothing product stewardship scheme Seamless; Suzanne Toumbourou, CEO, Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR); and Matt Genever, CEO, Sustainability Victoria. Moderating the debate was Nick Harford, managing director, Harford Consulting. Macmillan said Resiloop was launched with 15 brand owners, suppliers, and product suppliers on board, as well as some major retail groups such as Carpet Court. “It’s very much a collaborative effort across the value chain,” she said. “Our focus is not just singular. As a product stewardship scheme, it’s not just about waste recovery and diversion from landfill – it’s about trying to drive that circular mentality.” (Continued on page 18)
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