More than 50 environment groups have challenged federal and state environment ministers to act on packaging waste and plastic at their imminent joint meeting on 10 December.
There needs to be a decision that producers of packaging are responsible for funding and supporting an environmentally responsible sector across its entire lifecycle, they said.
”After 25 years of failing to meet voluntary targets, it’s time for governments to mandate packaging reductions, reuse and recovery targets, to take effect in 2025. Australia needs to continue to stop being a high-use, wasteful nation when it comes to packaging and single use items, and we are confident the community will support a different approach,” said Jeff Angel, Director of the Boomerang Alliance of 55 groups.
The evidence is mounting as waste and plastic pollution takes their toll and the demand for action grows:
- Last week an AMCS/Boomerang Alliance audit of supermarkets found that plastic-wrapped fresh fruit and vegetables were still being sold at a cheaper cost than loose alternatives-and most of the time. This penalises the environment and consumers with unnecessary plastic use and more food waste. It leads to more single use plastics going into landfill, because there are no soft plastic collections existing for most consumers.
- This week at the ongoing UN Plastic Treaty negotiations in South Korea, the spokesperson for the 60 ‘high ambition’ countries (Australia is one) stated that ‘The world will be unable to cope with the volume of plastic waste in 10 years time, unless countries agree to curb plastic production.’ There are no reduction targets in Australia.
- At the 2024 Euros and the Paris Olympic Games, spectators bought their food and drink in reusable containers that were returned, washed and reused. In Australia, with some exceptions, major stadiums and events still provide the public with single-use containers that are thrown away. Unlike many EU countries, there are no reuse requirements for these locations.
”Australia needs to set on the path of reducing packaging greenhouse gas emissions, water, energy, harmful chemicals and creating a circular economy,” Angel said.