Page 24 - Packaging News magazine Jan-Feb 2022

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SUSTAINABILITY | www.packagingnews.com.au | January-February 2022
Collective Impact Report: Strong call to action
6.3 million tonnes PLACED ON MARKET
5.4 million
vary across material types. For paper & paperboard, an additional 500,000 tonnes of PCR material will need to be added to meet the target. For glass, there is currently insufficient supply of quality recycled feedstock. In the case of metal, packaging is exported for recycling due to the lack of local capacity, and plastic is limited by a lack of availability of recycled feed- stock that meets quality requirements, particularly for food grade.
Having identified the specific gaps that remain for each of the targets, the report provides a clear list of actions required from businesses and organ- isations across the packaging value chain on the road to achieving the 2025 Targets.
APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly says, “The core message of this report is clear – if we are going to achieve the 2025 National Packaging Targets, we all need to do more and the time to act is now. We have seen fantastic prog- ress so far towards the Targets, but we must accelerate our efforts if we are to be successful by 2025.
“The gaps identified in the report require significant attention and we need to see a wholesale collaborative effort from actors across the supply chain to address these. It’s absolutely critical that businesses across every industry sector engage with this report and dis- cuss within their organisations how they will work to address these gaps.”
The next stage of this systemic change will require bold interven- tions, in policy, production, education and engagement. This would include the possibility of mandates and incen- tives/disincentives for industry.
The report identifies the actions required within the three core areas of activity in sustainable packaging – packaging designed for circularity, improved collection and recycling systems, and expanded markets for used packaging. APCO’s role is to bring together key contributors across the value chain to collectively work towards these priority strategies.
As the report indicates, achieving the 2025 Targets will be a significant challenge for Australia, and unachiev- able without action and collaboration from all stakeholders. ■
tonnes
Figure E2: Losses in the packaging system 2019-20
OF PACKAGING THAT IS RECYCLABLE
3.9 million tonnes
OF PACKAGING COLLECTED FOR RECYCLING
14%
3.4 million tonnes
RECYCLED
8%
LOST IN COLLECTION AND RECYCLING PROCESSES
NOT RECYCLABLE BY DESIGN
24%
RECYCLABLE BUT NOT COLLECTED
APCO has delivered the Collective Impact Report outlining actions required
to achieve the 2025 National Packaging Targets. The overarching message Tis clear – more action needs to be taken, and fast. Lindy Hughson writes.
HE Australian Packaging Covenant APCO’s report states there are still The report
Organisation (APCO) Collective “significant gaps” to achieve the 2025 highlights current
Impact report delivers a criti- Targets for recovery and recycled con- material losses in
cal analysis of Australia’s current tent. The biggest challenge is clearly in the packaging
progress towards the 2025 National the plastics recycling space, where the system, from
Packaging Targets, and explores the 16 per cent recovery falls far short of design through to collection,
need for alternative interventions to the 70 per cent target. Problems iden- sorting and support the transition to a circular tified include poor source separation reprocessing.
economy for packaging in Australia. The report identifies the current sys- tem performance and emerging gaps that may impact progress towards the
circular economic transition. Analysing data for the 2019-2020 period, the report highlights cur- rent material losses in the packaging system, from design through to collec-
tion, sorting and reprocessing.
An estimated 45 per cent of pack- aging was disposed to landfill in 2019-20, the report states, representing a loss of resources valued at approxi- mately $360 million. An additional 1.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions could have been avoided if this material had been recycled
instead of being landfilled.
of kerbside materials; insufficient collection of non-kerbside household materials; insufficient collection of commercial and industrial packaging; inadequate sorting capacity in MRFs; and insufficient reprocessing capacity.
When it comes to the target for average recycled content, barriers
The gaps identified in the report require significant attention and we need to see a wholesale collaborative effort from actors across the supply chain to address these.”