Calls for sweeping national packaging reform are intensifying ahead of this week’s Environment Ministers’ Meeting, with independent MPs Dr Sophie Scamps and Kate Chaney joining the Boomerang Alliance to press for urgent federal action on Australia’s growing plastic waste problem.
The coalition of environmental advocates and crossbenchers is urging the Albanese Government to legislate a mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in 2026, shifting the burden of packaging waste from households and councils onto the companies that produce it.
Their intervention comes amid mounting concern that Australia’s current co-regulatory, industry-led framework is failing to deliver on its targets, and that delays in reform risk undermining both recycling infrastructure and broader circular economy ambitions.
[Ed's note: This echoes recent calls from ACOR, APCO, and from representatives of the wider packaging and recycling industry as expressed at a recent Packaging Industry Roundtable.]
Dr Sophie Scamps, MP for Mackellar and Kate Chaney, MP for Curtin added their voices to Boomerang Alliance's urgent call for action in Canberra today (24 March).
System under strain
As has been widely publicised in the packaging reform debate, Australia uses more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging annually, yet more than one million tonnes ends up in landfill or as litter. According to latest industry figures cited by the Boomerang Alliance, less than 20 per cent of plastic packaging is recycled, reuse remains negligible, and recycled content in new plastic packaging sits below 8 per cent – well short of national targets.
“Kerbside recycling transformed how we manage waste, but it’s no longer enough,” said Boomerang Alliance director Jeff Angel. It’s time to act.”
Angel warned that without decisive intervention, “the domestic recycling industry is predicted to collapse”, calling on the Commonwealth to “stop procrastinating” and introduce reforms that eliminate problematic packaging and ensure materials are collected, reused or recycled into new products.
The push reflects broader industry and policy tensions. While Australia has committed to ambitious national packaging targets and endorsed “high ambition” goals under the proposed Global Plastics Treaty, delivery has lagged. Key reform elements flagged by environment ministers in 2023 – including mandatory design standards and stronger producer accountability – have yet to materialise.
From voluntary to mandatory
At the centre of the reform agenda is a transition from voluntary stewardship to a mandatory, nationally harmonised EPR framework.
Since 1999, packaging in Australia has been managed through a co-regulatory model, but critics argue it has failed to drive sufficient change. Recent consultation by the Commonwealth Government reinforces this view, with more than 80 per cent of respondents favouring federal regulation and 65 per cent supporting a mandatory EPR model.
Under the proposed scheme, producers would be required to take financial and operational responsibility for the full lifecycle of packaging – from design through to collection, processing and reuse. This “polluter pays” approach is already embedded in Australia’s container deposit schemes and is widely supported across state governments, industry and community stakeholders.
Independent MP for Curtin Kate Chaney described plastic waste as “a systems problem” requiring upstream intervention.
“If we want to fix it, we need to control the waste at its source, not just deal with it after the fact,” Chaney said. “Households and local councils can’t keep footing the clean-up bill, because year-on-year these costs are growing.”
She added that making producers responsible for packaging lifecycle outcomes would “encourage less plastic, better design, and stronger reuse and recycling systems”.
Political pressure builds
Independent MP for Mackellar Dr Sophie Scamps framed the issue as both an environmental and public health concern, pointing to growing evidence of microplastics in ecosystems and human bodies.
“Australia’s plastic problem won’t be solved by households alone,” Scamps said. “This is about turning the tide on plastic waste and putting the responsibility where it belongs – on the companies producing it.”
She was blunt in her assessment of the current approach: “The only way we will turn the tide on plastic pollution is for the corporations creating the waste to take responsibility for it… This must be mandatory as voluntary schemes have failed terribly.”
Scamps also highlighted the visible impact of plastic pollution in coastal communities, adding that she would be “working throughout the year to deliver real packaging reform”.
Soft plastics and national consistency
A key element of the proposal is the immediate rollout of a national, producer-funded soft plastics collection scheme with mandatory participation. This follows the collapse of previous voluntary schemes and ongoing gaps in recovery pathways for flexible packaging.
Public support for such measures appears strong. A YouGov survey commissioned by the Boomerang Alliance found 73 per cent of Australians support an EPR scheme for packaging, while 88 per cent back producer-funded soft plastics collection.
The reform package also calls for mandatory national targets covering reduction, reuse, recycling and recycled content – aligning Australia with international policy direction and its commitments under the proposed global plastics framework.
A critical juncture
For the packaging value chain, the implications are significant. A shift to mandatory EPR would accelerate design-for-recycling requirements, increase demand for recycled content, and reshape funding models for collection and processing infrastructure.
It would also bring long-standing policy debates to a head – particularly around the balance between regulation and industry-led action, and the need for national consistency across jurisdictions.
With environment ministers set to meet this week, the renewed political pressure underscores a growing consensus: the current system is not delivering at the scale or speed required.
The debate is over. What comes next is delivery.
Industry is holding its collective breath to see whether 2026 becomes the turning point for packaging reform in Australia.
