As pressure builds ahead of Friday’s Environment Ministers Meeting, the Australian Council of Recycling is once again calling for urgent action on packaging reform, warning that weak demand for recycled content and ongoing regulatory uncertainty are putting Australia’s recycling system at risk.
The call follows earlier warnings tied to the Securing Australia’s Plastic Recycling Future report, which highlighted the risk of underutilised infrastructure, weak end markets and mounting plastic waste without regulatory intervention.
In its latest statement, issued 25 March, ACOR said 2026 will be a critical year for the sector, as significant investment in collection and processing capability is being undermined by weak demand for locally recycled materials.
“Recycling is a remanufacturing supply chain that contributes almost $19 billion in economic value to the Australian economy,” said Suzanne Toumbourou. “For that chain to hold, every link – collection, processing and end markets – must be viable. If any part fails, the circular economy reaches a dead end.”
At the centre of ACOR’s call is long-promised national packaging reform, which the federal government has committed to but is yet to fully define.
ACOR joins industry voices, along with independent politicians and NGOs, in urging ministers to settle the process, timeframe and core design of reform, including nationally consistent regulation that places responsibility for packaging across its full lifecycle on producers and drives demand for Australian-made recycled materials.
The organisation warns that without strong end markets, recycling investment will continue to stall, with low-cost imported materials displacing locally produced recycled content.
This reflects findings from the Rennie Advisory analysis, which showed that without reform, recycling infrastructure utilisation could fall sharply, placing facilities and jobs at risk while plastic waste continues to grow.
ACOR is also calling for stronger government procurement targets to prioritise Australian recycled content, alongside consistent enforcement of existing regulations to ensure a level playing field across the sector.
System risks
Beyond packaging, ACOR highlighted broader system risks – including the growing number of battery-related fires in waste streams – but maintains that coordinated national reform is essential to stabilise the recycling system.
Toumbourou said ministers need to act now.
“Environment Ministers have a clear opportunity to provide the regulatory certainty and practical action needed to support a stronger, sovereign recycling sector,” she said.
“Reform is overdue. Now is the time for national leadership to ensure Australian recycling remains viable, safe and delivers for the economy and the environment.”
