ANZPAC Plastic Pact sets ambitious 2025 targets

Dozens of Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Islander businesses, NGOs and government entities have signed up for the long-awaited ANZPAC Plastics Pact, which promises to unite the plastic supply chain to achieve ambitious 2025 targets to eliminate plastic waste.

The initiative joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network, a globally aligned response to plastic waste and pollution that incorporates more than 550 organisations.

The cross-regional program will ensure its founding 60 members, which includes packaging manufacturers, leading F&B brands, resource recovery leaders and other institutions, will work towards four actionable targets by 2025. These include:

• Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign, innovation and alternative (reuse) delivery models.
• 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
• Increase plastic packaging collected and effectively recycled by 25% for each geography within the ANZPAC region.
• Average of 25% recycled content in plastic packaging across the region.

The next steps for the ANZPAC program to achieve its 2025 goals is to develop a roadmap for action.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges Australia faces and managing plastic at end-of-life is something we must do better at, according to Trevor Evans, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management.

“It’s fantastic to see such a diverse range of organisations across the supply chain coming together to deliver solutions in the Australia and the wider Asia–Pacific region,” he said.

Rob Priest, Vice President of founding member Coca-Cola South Pacific, said the company does not want to see any plastic packaging end up where it does not belong — in oceans, waterways or in landfill.

“This is a major and urgent challenge, but also a solvable problem if we design and support a circular economy.”

Greg Davis, Coles Chief Executive of Commercial and Express, said the supermarket chain also understands the importance of working collaboratively to find a more sustainable future for plastic packaging.

“We now have an opportunity to build and shape meaningful change on plastic packaging and move towards a circular plastic economy as a global community.”

The ANZPAC Plastics Pact joins the UK, France, Chile, The Netherlands, South Africa, Portugal and the European Economic Area (EEA), as part of the global Plastics Pact network, which was established in 2016.

The ANZPAC initiative, which will annually report its progress, was announced during the federal government’s National Plastics Summit in March last year.

Other founding members include ALDI, Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), the AIP, O F Packaging, TerraCycle, Asahi Beverages, the CSIRO, Planet Ark and Unilever.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/luismolinero