Page 3 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec 2021

November-December 2021 | www.packagingnews.com.au COMMENT | MANAGING EDITOR 3
A little less wishing and a lot more doing
ANOTHER tumultuous year will soon be behind us, with the promise of better times to come in 2022. As vaccina- tion rates rise, borders start to open, and lockdown restrictions ease across the country, consumers are tentatively readying themselves for the Christmas holiday season. And whether they’ll be hitting the shops in physical or vir- tual form, everyone is anticipating a massive spike in FMCG and luxury goods consumption.
While this is good news for the pro- ducers and packagers of goods, it will of course mean a corresponding spike in packaging waste in the home. And therein lies the rub. Disposing of this waste responsibly remains a problem.
Although Australians are commit- ted to recycling, and indeed we do a lot of it (since 1996, Planet Ark tells us, we’ve increased our recycling rates across a spectrum of goods from 7% to 60%), these efforts are often wasted
due to confusion about how to recycle the items properly.
Tossing used packaging in a recy- cling bin and hoping for the best – an action known as wishcycling – will not keep recycling streams clean to allow us to maximise resource recovery. And, as everyone reading this knows, creating a viable circular economy depends on recovering high volumes of usable recycled material.
According to a recent study by Nestlé, a staggering number of Australians (88%) are still disposing of packaging from everyday house- hold items in the wrong bin, despite a high level of confidence (95%) that they are correctly recycling their household waste. These stats are, frankly, very disappointing. Forget the jingle bells this Christmas, alarm bells should be ringing.
Nestlé's research shows that while many people (86%) are taking the time to look on pack for recycling instruc- tions, inconsistent on-pack labels are contributing to confusion in our bins.
Clear and concise labelling is imperative and to this end Nestlé is calling for more brand owners to join them and some 600 others in adopting the Australian Recycling Label (ARL) on their packaging. This labelling system, based on the PREP analysis of a material’s recyclabil- ity, is a simple, graphic messaging device for clarifying which bin an item should go in. I believe it is also continuously being refined to accommodate messaging around hard-to-recycle materials. It’s the gold standard in recycling labelling in Australasia, and what we need is more uptake from brand owners sup- ported by their packaging suppliers. Surely that’s not wishful thinking?
It’s time to wrap up this missive in (recyclable) ribbons and bows: with this final issue of 2021, the PKN team wishes readers a safe, happy holiday season, and a new year filled with glad tidings on sustainable change wrought from positive action. ■
Lindy Hughson
Managing Editor & Publisher
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Colleen Bate colleenbate@yaffa.com.au
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Tossing used packaging in a
recycling bin and hoping for the best – wishcycling – will not keep our recycling streams clean.”