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The Australian government should stop talking and start acting on packaging impacts, says a frustrated National Packaging Covenant association.
A recent meeting of environment ministers led to yet another time extension in the six-year-plus discussion about whether or how to regulate litter.
Stan Moore, CEO of the National Packaging Convenant Industry Association (NPCIA), says the ministers’ meeting was a missed opportunity to provide packaging businesses with certainty about the future and address public concerns about litter.
Launching a programme to install waste and recycling bins in retail spaces to enable consumers to recycle away from home, (l-r): Stan Moore, CEO of the APC with Greg Hunt, federal environment minister; Stefan Preuss, Sustainability Victoria and Rowan Griffin, Colonial First State Global Asset Management
He says the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC), which has more than 900 signatories, will expire in a little over 12 months – meaning ministers must soon come to a decision or risk undermining the current measures in place.
He tells APP, “It’s absolutely critical to remove uncertainty to allow industry to get on with initiatives and meet critical timeframes to ensure progress does not stall. We urge ministers to support the continuation of the APC model.
“Regulatory uncertainty does not foster an environment for commitment. Industry would like to get on with the task of minimising the environmental impacts of all packaging and address the key concern of litter.”
NPCIA says its Covenant has strong benefits over other proposed solutions, such as the controversial container deposit scheme. It says the Covenant is cheaper than such a programme, has a better benefit-cost result and manages all types of packaging rather than just one, such as drink bottles and cans.
The Council of Australian Governments, which has been leading the packaging impacts discussion, says reducing red tape across the board remains an ongoing priority for all governments; NPCIA says this could be a sign in favour of its preferred co-regulatory approach.
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