Environmental groups welcome all aspects of packaging and recycling targets that are largely voluntary, but warn that regulation will be necessary

Last modified on Thursday, March 4, 2021 04.14 EST

By the middle of 2022, Australia will phase out polystyrene foam, which is commonly used for packaging consumer goods, as part of a national plan to combat the ever-increasing plastic waste.

Environmental groups welcomed many aspects of the plan, including the cessation of polystyrene food and beverage containers by the end of 2022, but also criticized its basic voluntary approach to ambitious goals and called for enforcement of those goals.

The Morrison government also announced that it will support "coordination of global actions to solve the ocean plastic problem" through the United Nations, and the United Nations is formulating a treaty on this issue.

The National Plastics Plan, initiated in Brisbane by Federal Minister of Environment Sussan Ley and Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans, also includes targets to reduce plastic pollution caused by washing machine effluent and cigarette butts.

By July 2022, Australia should eliminate plastic packaging products that do not meet compostable standards, as well as loose and molded polystyrene used in various consumer products.

The plan stated that by December 2022, polystyrene should disappear from food and beverage containers, and PVC packaging labels will be phased out.

Ley said Australia's goal is to reduce the use of plastics and change the way Australians "produce, consume and recycle plastics."

She said that plastic bottles, packaging and consumer products are bringing "a mountain of pain" to the environment.

A Ley spokesperson said that she expects the industry to voluntarily meet the deadline, but the government reserves the right to supervise when needed.

WWF Australia stated that the 38 actions of the plan are a breakthrough in solving the problem of plastic pollution.

The government said it will work with the industry to install microfiber filters on all washing machines sold in Australia by 2030.

Katinka Day, a plastics activist at WWF, said it will put Australia at the forefront of efforts to reduce microfiber waste, but pointed out that the goal is nine years later and called on washing machine companies to speed up.

A study has shown that when washing clothes made of synthetic fibers, up to 1.5m of microplastic fibers are released.

The government previously announced a goal for 2025, including that all packaging is "reusable, recyclable and compostable", 70% of plastic packaging can be recycled or composted, and packaging materials have an average of 50% recyclable content.

Dai said that voluntary methods will not work and require a "strong regulatory goal." Evans disagrees, arguing that the cosmetics and personal care industries' voluntary phase-out of microbeads in products shows that voluntary methods are feasible.

Labor’s assistant environmental spokesman Josh Wilson said the plan failed to provide national leadership and coordination and was out of time with actions taken by states and territories.

"Under the supervision of the current government, the plastic recycling rate has dropped from 12% to 9%. In 2018-19, only 18% of the plastic packaging used in Australia was recycled, and the packaging contained only 2% of recycled content. "He said. "All these measures deviate from the 2025 target."

Jeff Angel, head of the Boomerang Alliance, which is made up of 53 non-governmental organizations concerned with plastic pollution, said the plan is a "major effort."

He welcomes the plan to eliminate single-use plastic products on the beach by supporting local companies to switch to alternative products, but he said that the government will need to put pressure on the industry if it is to achieve its 2025 target.

He said: "If this doesn't happen in practice, it would be meaningless to have a recyclable label." "We believe that regulation is necessary."

Angel said that cigarette butts are the most littered item in Australia, and a working group announced in the plan needs to find a solution, including the complete removal of cigarette butts from cigarettes.

Brooke Donnelly, chief executive of the Australian Packaging Convention, which leads the 2025 goal, said that the focus of phasing out single-use plastics by 2025 is very good.

She said that since the announcement of the target in 2018, the timetable for the entire plastics supply chain has been agreed, and the organization has "a set of tools, plans, and resources" to help companies make the changes they need.

"A lot of Australian companies have made these changes in packaging," she said.

Regarding cigarette butts, the government stated that it will launch an "industry-led cross-departmental management working group."

A spokesperson for British American Tobacco Australia, Australia’s largest manufacturer of tobacco products, said the company “does not know the details” but welcomes “any opportunity to work with the government to solve the cigarette butt problem”.

He said the company is working hard to develop "more biodegradable" alternatives.

He added: "Unfortunately, viable alternatives have not yet been identified, and the only effective strategy for disposing of ass trash is for consumers to dispose of them correctly."

A study last year found that plastic bags and flexible packaging are the deadliest items in the ocean. A study published in the journal Science last year estimated that 19 million to 23 million tons of plastic entered rivers and oceans in 2016.

Other studies estimate that the amount of plastic at the bottom of the ocean is 30 times the amount of plastic floating on the surface.