Regional Plastics Pact for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island Nations

The Plastics Pact network will expand to include Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island nations. The ANZPAC Plastics Pact was announced by The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) at the Federal Government’s National Plastics Summit in Canberra, Australia.

A first in the Pacific region, the ANZPAC Plastics Pact will work with businesses, governments, and NGOs from across the plastics value chain towards a circular economy for plastic, in which it never becomes waste or pollution.

APCO will lead the development of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact towards its official launch later this year. WRAP, who leads the UK Plastics Pact, is supporting APCO, leading engagement workshops in the Pacific Island nations.

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, a unique platform to exchange learnings and best practices across countries and regions to accelerate the transition to the circular economy for plastic.

Aligned with these other Plastics Pacts, the ANZPAC Plastics Pact will work towards a set of ambitious, time-bound targets in the following areas to:

• Eliminate unnecessary and problematic single-use plastic packaging through redesign and innovation
• Ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable
• Increase the reuse, collection, and recycling of plastic packaging
• Increase recycled content in plastic packaging

The exact targets will be released towards the end of 2020, and progress will be reported publicly each year.

Throughout this year, APCO will be developing the programme in close consultation with local industry representatives in all regions. The process kicked off with the first industry workshop on 3rd March, which attracted more than 80 attendees. Further industry workshops will follow, with the next one set to take place in New Zealand in the next few months.

Industry players from across the plastics value chain have already shown strong engagement with the programme. Companies including Amcor, Kmart Australia, Mars, Nestlé Oceania, SUEZ, Unilever, Veolia, and Woolworths have confirmed their support for a common approach such as the ANZPAC programme. The Australian Food and Grocery Council, the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia, the Australian Institute of Packaging and Planet Ark Environmental Foundation are also strongly supporting the new programme’s development.

The ANZPAC Plastics Pact is welcoming stakeholders from across the value chain and the region to co-shape the programme. Contact memberservices@packagingcovenant.org.au for more information or visit www.packagingcovenant.org.au.

“We welcome the announcement of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact and look forward to working together with the governments and industry of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands to drive real change towards a circular economy for plastic, by eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastic items, innovating to ensure that the plastics they do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and circulating the plastic items they use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. Together we can create a world without plastic waste or pollution.” - New Plastics Economy Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Sander Defruyt

“It was fantastic to meet today with key stakeholders from government and industry at the Plastics Summit to explore what tangible solutions are needed to address the plastics crisis. We commend the government for leading this approach and providing the ideal platform for us to unveil the new, industry-led ANZPAC initiative.

Plastic is a global supply chain problem and that means to manage it effectively, Australia needs an international approach. The Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s Plastic Pact network is a proven, effective model being rolled out across the world, and I’m very pleased that APCO Members and key stakeholders will be leading the delivery of this program for our region.

We are wasting no time and will be kicking off the industry action at a workshop in Sydney tomorrow to start developing targets and priority projects.” - Brooke Donnelly, CEO of APCO

“WRAP is delighted to see APCO announce plans for an ANZPAC. The UK Plastics Pact has been very successful in transforming the plastics landscape in the UK. WRAP, who developed the UK Plastics Pact in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, have been involved in supporting a number of Plastics Pacts around the world as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact network. This has the power to completely transform how we produce, use and dispose of plastics.” - David Rogers, Head of International Resource Management, WRAP UK