Pact Group recently appeared before the House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources, during a public hearing in the Parliament of Victoria, where its chairman Raphael Geminder called for the use of locally produced recycled plastic.

He said the one critical element that the Federal government must get right to ensure the continued viability of Australia’s domestic recycling and packaging sectors is that locally produced recycled material is not undermined by cheap products imported by businesses seeking to comply with mandated requirements.

“Australia is a net importer of plastic packaging material and that stuff winds up in our kerbside recycling system. So, markets for domestically produced recycled plastic must be prioritised. The high costs of production in Australia can result in locally produced material competing on an uneven playing field with cheap virgin and recycled imports,” he said.

“To ensure a viable recycling system, get meaningful diversion from landfill, and fast track our progress towards a circular economy, we need mandatory requirements, for the procurement and use of domestic recycled content in all packaging. Demand creation is a critical building block in the circular economy.

“Industry with support from government, has already invested heavily in infrastructure, to create a local circular economy for plastics. We need government to ensure that the new regulatory environment, will adequately safeguard and grow our domestic recycling and manufacturing industries, otherwise Australia will fail to achieve its circular economy objectives.”

Geminder added that the last five years have been among the most challenging that he has seen in the industry, because of a global pandemic, wars, severe weather events, shipping and supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures and difficult economic conditions – all of which have impacted businesses in Australia.

“While we all work towards building a strong domestic circular economy, there is only so much that can be done without government regulatory intervention,” he said.

“We are pleased that Minister Plibersek has announced the government will introduce National Packaging Laws that will mandate minimum recycled content requirements for all packaging.
This is critical if we want to create an effective circular economy, where we turn the packaging consumers discard into new recycled packaging.

“I say that because up until this new legislation is in place, Australia relies on voluntary packaging targets and the goodwill of industry to make a difference.

“We need the new legislative framework now and I am somewhat disappointed at our pace, albeit I understand we are not the only priority and there is a lot to navigate in this monumental change for good.

“If the government and all of us get this right, we have an opportunity to make a truly positive impact on our environment, by reducing the amount of virgin resins we rely on and diverting more packaging waste from landfill, thereby contributing to an overall reduction in carbon emissions.”