Australia is seeing a plateau in its recycling rates according to the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC).
According to the sustainable packaging initiative, the overall recycling rate for post-consumer packaging in Australia was 61.3 per cent for 2014-15, with a downturn in glass volumes.
“Our experience is that, year on year, there are fluctuations due to recovered vs reused volumes,” an APC spokesperson said.
Glass volumes are showing a yearly downturn (as they did six years ago) and have put downward pressure on the overall percentage of recycled materials.
“The recycling rate is a factor of both the volume being consumed and the structure of what is, by international comparisons, a relatively undersized end market for recycled products, even allowing for exports,” the spokesperson said.
Total consumption for all packaging materials was 4.74 mt, a rise of 169.2 kt or 3.7% on the prior year.
Recovery and recycling was at 2.91 mt, a decrease of 29.0 kt or 1% over the same period.
Overall, the recycling rate fell by 2.9% over the past financial year.
Despite a decline in the value of the Australian dollar, significant volumes of packaged beverages and food continued to be imported.
Fluctuating levels between imports and local supplies do not necessarily balance out on a year-by-year basis.
Moreover, imports of empty packaging are growing – with glass most notable in this respect. Glass recycling alone fell by six per cent to 41.4 per cent in the year.
Over the longer term, effective kerbside collection systems and collaborative product stewardship actions have contributed to the improvement in the recycling rate from the 39 per cent baseline established in 2003.
