The Federal Government’s recently updated data shows 41% of packaging placed on the Australian market went to landfill in 2023–24 – yet national packaging reform remains stalled. Of the 6.84 million tonnes of packaging placed on the market, almost three million tonnes was buried, despite 86% being assessed as having “good recyclability”.
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) CEO Gayle Sloan said the figures proved Australia could not afford further delay.
“The current system is failing. Nearly half of all packaging is still being buried, while households, councils and recyclers pay for decisions made at the design table,” Ms Sloan said. “Packaging is not free to manage. These costs already exist through council rates, collection and sorting, contamination and landfill charges.
“Extended producer responsibility (EPR) does not create a new cost. It fairly allocates existing costs to the producers choosing the packaging and profiting from its sale.”
Environment Ministers agreed packaging regulation needed reform in 2022, and Commonwealth consultation closed in October 2024. More than 80% of respondents preferred Commonwealth regulation and 65% supported mandatory extended producer responsibility.
Despite this, even the proposed national packaging Design Framework remains undecided.
“Full producer responsibility is essential, but the Commonwealth does not need to wait for the entire EPR scheme before designing waste and pollution out of the system,” Ms Sloan said.
Australia can act now by introducing mandatory packaging design and recyclability standards, recycled-content requirements, clear labelling and national restrictions on unnecessary, low-value and hard-to-recycle plastics.
“Every unrecyclable item stopped at the border or design stage is one less item households must pay to collect, sort and bury,” Ms Sloan said.
“New Zealand has already introduced national restrictions on targeted single-use and hard-to-recycle plastics, including some PVC and polystyrene packaging. Even New Zealand managed to establish clear national rules and a phase-out timetable.
“Australia’s fragmented state-based approach creates gaps and unnecessary complexity. We need one national standard governing what producers are allowed to place on the Australian market and what can be imported- these are Federal responsibilities.”
WMRR said waste export controls must also be reviewed in light of packaging reform delays and Australia’s exposure to low-value imported packaging.
“Overseas producers can continue sending poorly designed, low-value packaging into Australia for our communities and industry to manage, while Australian recyclers face restrictions on exporting recovered material,” Ms Sloan said.
“Australia is drowning in foreign plastic, yet our own Government refuses to give Australian industry workable pathways for managing it.”
Export settings must reflect Australia’s geography, actual processing capacity and viable end markets—not assume material can be economically transported thousands of kilometres to a facility on the other side of the country.
The Australian Plastics Flows and Fates data reports 600,000 tonnes of domestic reprocessing capacity at the end of 2024. However, headline capacity figures do not show whether facilities can accept particular polymers, access suitable feedstock, operate that capacity or sell the recovered material.
“A facility in another state is not a solution when transport makes recovery uneconomic,” Ms Sloan said. “The Commonwealth must use its own data to map where suitable facilities operate, what materials they accept and where critical gaps remain.
“Western Australia, Far North Queensland and other regional and remote communities cannot be stranded because national policy ignores distance and infrastructure realities.
“The Federal Environment Minister has an opportunity at this Friday’s Environment Ministers’ Meeting to show leadership on packaging reform by delivering clear, nationally consistent design standards and practical export rules that can drive investment and give industry realistic timeframes to comply.”
WMRR is calling on the Federal Government to:
- Commit to mandatory national packaging EPR, with producers responsible for collection, sorting, recycling and safe disposal costs.
- Introduce interim mandatory design, recyclability, recycled-content and labelling requirements.
- Establish nationally consistent bans on unnecessary, low-value and hard-to-recycle plastics.
- Align waste export settings with the location, capability and commercial accessibility of Australian infrastructure.
- Use Plastics Flows and Fates data to map regional gaps and utilise the Recycling Modernisation Fund to target necessary strategic infrastructure investment.
“Australia has the data, proven international models and strong public support. What is missing is delivery,” Ms Sloan said.
“Every year of delay means more poorly designed packaging enters Australia, more resources are buried and more costs are shifted onto households and consumers. The Federal Government must stop describing the problem and start regulating it.”