A $60 million commitment from the federal government to build an advanced soft plastics recycling industry has been welcomed by industry groups and business. The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) says it is an important step towards a circular economy for plastic packaging.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was committed to stopping plastics entering waterways and destroying marine life.
The investment, funded in the upcoming Federal Budget, builds on the $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) which is driving a $1 billion transformation of the waste and recycling sector.
It also comes on the heels of a $50m investment into CSIRO’s Ending Plastic Waste Mission to develop cutting-edge science and innovation on how Australia makes, uses, recycles and disposes of plastics.
AFGC CEO Tanya Barden said the funding will allow the development of onshore recycling capabilities for hard-to-recycle soft plastic packaging, such as bread bags and cereal box liners, and allow Australian manufacturers to source more food-grade recycled content for packaging here in Australia.
“Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing industry is committed to creating an effective and sustainable circular economy for plastic packaging in Australia,” Barden said.
“The AFGC is currently developing the National Plastics Recycling Scheme (NPRS), which will be Australia’s largest industry-led plastics recycling scheme.
“This new investment to support advanced recycling provides a key link for creating a successful product stewardship scheme for soft plastic packaging,” she said
The new funding will support Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) members and the entire packaging supply chain to develop new solutions to boost uptake of recycled plastic, including expanding infrastructure to process more recovered plastic into usable material for new products and packaging.
APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly said, “It is crucial that recovered plastic is treated as a resource and seen as a critical way to ‘close the loop’. No materials are truly recycled until they are used again, so it is vital that we expand our end markets for recovered plastic to ensure it goes back into the economy.
“This is the final step in a transition to a true circular economy. Innovative solutions to help businesses to increase the amount of recycled plastic being used in new packaging are essential. This funding will be key to supporting industry on this journey – to a future where plastic is no longer waste.”
From global searches and prototypes to real change
Mondēlez Australia, NZ & Japan president Darren O’Brien said industry has heard the consumer demand for packaging to become more sustainable and that Mondēlez has invested heavily to do so.
“We’ve invested in a world first for Cadbury with our transition to 30 per cent recycled soft plastic packaging later this year, but had to search the world for the recycled packaging because until now, there just hasn’t been the domestic advanced recycling capability we need in Australia to make soft plastics a truly circular material.
“The investment in new technology that ensures we can transform local waste back into packaging is a game changer for consumers, industry and the planet,” O'Brien said.
Mars Australia general manager Bill Heague echoed O'Brien's comments, saying Mars’ packaging for its confectionery, food and pet food products is either recycle-ready or being designed to be recyclable or reusable by 2025.
“We believe brand owners have an essential role in a circular economy alongside the support needed from government to ensure Australia’s plastics recycling infrastructure is ready to meet industry and shopper expectations,” Heague said.
Meanwhile, Nestlé Oceania CEO Sandra Martinez is convinced that industry collaboration will create better outcomes for soft plastics.
“That’s why Nestlé has collaborated to create firstly a kerbside trial to boost collection of soft plastics and developed a KitKat prototype wrapper that demonstrates the circularity that’s possible with the right collection and processing.
“This funding will help the entire value chain to bring this better future to life, turn waste plastic into a resource, and provide opportunities for food companies to buy locally created soft plastic packaging with recycled content,” Martinez said.
The Arnott’s Group has also committed itself to collaboration to drive change. It was a founding member of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact, along with Aldi, Coles, Woolworths, Mondēlez, Asahi Beverages, Nestlé, and Unilever, which is seeing competitors and industry partners work together on new sustainability solutions.
Arnott’s Group chief transformation officer Simon Lowden said the group was committed to achieving the 2025 National Packaging Targets as well as “advancing an ambitious agenda that brings us closer to a circular economy for packaging”.
“As a company we’ve committed to ensuring that our packaging has at least 50% average recycled content by 2025, so welcome the government’s efforts in this space,” Lowden said.
Unilever also rallied in support of the funding announcement, with its ANZ head of sustainable business and communications Brooke Sprott saying building greater capacity for advanced recycling was key to the country’s transition.
“At Unilever we’re working hard to reduce our use of virgin plastic, increase our use of post-consumer plastic, and ramp up recyclability of our packaging to meet the 2025 National Packaging Targets.
“Each year, we use 1200 tonnes of recycled plastic in our home, beauty and personal care bottles such as Dove, OMO and TRESemmé, but we’re looking for solutions to incorporate recycled plastic into our food and refreshment packaging.
“There’s currently a gap in the availability of traceable, food-grade recycled plastic in Australia. Today’s announcement will help close this gap by increasing capacity for hard-to-recycle materials like soft plastics to be collected and processed into a traceable stream of food-grade recycled plastic,” Sprott said.
Recently appointed Kellogg ANZ managing director Anthony Holme said the cereal giant has a global focus on driving sustainable packaing innovation, with a commitment to having 100 per cent reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging by 2025.
“All cereals produced at our Botany plant in Sydney use materials sourced from local manufacturers, and we are currently undertaking trials using mechanically recycled materials.
“We support the announcement of funding towards hard-to-recycle plastics, which would enable further packaging innovation including locally sourced advanced recycled resin to add into our soft plastics,” Holme said.
Supermarkets welcome federal commitment
Aldi, Coles and Woolworths all welcomed the budget allocation. Aldi Australia corporate responsibility director Daniel Baker said the company was, “committed to working in partnership with industry stakeholders, government and our business partners to find sustainable solutions to create a circular economy for plastics and are encouraged by this government investment that will lead to increased uptake of recycled materials in product packaging across the Australian retail industry.”
Whatever claims are leveled at Australia’s grocery channel regarding competition or a lack thereof, the work being done on sustainability shows healthy comptition.
Baker said, “ALDI is focused on reducing our impact on the environment across our business and supply chain in relation to waste, recycling, packaging and energy and carbon emissions. Our plastics and packaging commitments guide our actions to reduce at least a quarter of all own-brand product plastic packaging by 2025, as well as increase the use of recycled materials across our range.
“Recognising the importance of developing a circular economy for plastics, we strive to reach 30 per cent recycled content in our plastic packaging by 2025. This is in addition to our commitment as an APCO member to achieve 50 per cent recycled content across all of our packaging materials.”
Meanwhile, Coles is on its own journey to become the country’s most sustainable supermarket. That said, chief sustainability, property and export officer Thinus Keevé said the company’s ambition to become Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, aligned to Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets including an average of 50 per cent recycled content used across all Coles Own Brand and Coles Own Liquor Brand packaging, can not be achieved alone.
“This is not something we can achieve alone and it takes action across each part of the packaging value chain to see its realisation. We understand our customers want us to reduce packaging and to make it easier for them to recycle.
“We also know that packaging, including plastic packaging, plays a key role in protecting products during transport, extending product life, keeping food safe and reducing food waste. Initiatives that drive the use of recycled plastic material in Australia will help close the loop on plastic packaging and support the transition to a circular economy,” Keevé said.
Woolworths 360 head of circular packaging solutions Adrian Cullen, said, “We’re focused on growing greener across our entire range and our first preference will always be to remove plastic from packaging when we can.
“Where plastic can’t be taken out of packaging altogether, we’re committed to reducing its environmental footprint by increasing our use of recycled plastic.
“We’ve pledged to use an average of 60 per cent recycled content in our own brand packaging by the end of 2025, and we’re also working to support our suppliers’ progress towards APCO’s National Packaging Targets to help cut virgin plastic going into our customers’ shopping baskets.
“Large scale investments in Australia’s recycling capability, such as this additional funding from the federal government, are vital in our collective pursuit of a better tomorrow.”
