Australia’s recycling system is facing a crisis, with councils and ratepayers in the line of fire.
The new report from the Australian Council of Recyclers and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, Securing Australia’s Plastic Recycling Future, presents a sobering picture of an industry in danger of collapse without urgent reform.
Companies that use packaging currently have no responsibility for the packaging they put into the market, and local councils and landfills are overwhelmed by rising volumes of material that could be recycled.
The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) is urgently calling for a regulated, national product stewardship scheme for packaging and plastics.
It would require companies to reclaim, recycle and reuse their commercial packaging and plastic.
Local councils are overwhelmed by rising volumes of packaging and plastics, with landfill capacity nearing its limits.
Each year, Australia uses over 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging, but more than 1 million tonnes ends up in landfill or as litter.
Although recyclers can process plastics, low demand for recycled material threatens facility closures, leading to more waste, increased imports, and job losses.
Investments in domestic recycling were made in anticipation of a mandatory national scheme, a promise yet to be fulfilled.
Regulatory uncertainty now threatens the entire system, with some recyclers considering withdrawal from services, which could increase landfill and restart stockpiling.
ALGA warns that councils and ratepayers already carry a significant cost burden, and they can’t afford to bear the additional cost of doing nothing.
Environmental costs are projected to exceed $5 billion by 2050, and councils will be left to shoulder the burden.
By contrast, modelling by the Australian Council of Recyclers shows that moving the responsibility for packaging waste back to industry would only add 0.1 per cent to product costs.
National Packaging Reform is urgently needed to support recycling, create a level playing field, and shift responsibility to industry over ratepayers.
Local government seeks a practical solution that provides investment certainty.
ALGA urges the government to explore using the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act to mandate an extended producer responsibility scheme, ensuring systematic monitoring of risks and impacts on local government services, and guaranteeing minimum service levels for regional, rural, and remote communities.
Australia can be a leader in packaging and plastics stewardship, but leadership requires action.
The time for a national product stewardship scheme is now, before financial and environmental costs become unmanageable and before vital infrastructure and jobs are lost.
