The Australasian Bioplastics Association is calling for certified compostable products and soil biodegradable mulch films to be formally recognised in Queensland’s new waste strategy, with defined collection and processing pathways to prevent the materials from continuing to go to landfill.
Queensland’s Less Landfill, More Recycling 2035 strategy identifies organics and plastics as priority waste streams and is backed by $487 million in government investment. It sets a target of achieving a statewide recycling rate of 65 per cent by 2035.
The ABA argues that certified compostable products and certified soil biodegradable mulch films sit across both priority streams but are not specifically addressed in the strategy.
ABA chief executive officer Martine Poulain told PKN that formal recognition was the association’s first priority because the absence of any reference to the materials effectively excluded them from waste and infrastructure planning.
“Certified compostables and certified soil biodegradable mulch film aren’t named anywhere in the strategy right now, even though they sit across both priority streams. So, in planning terms, they’re basically invisible,” Poulain said.
However, she said recognition would need to be supported by defined collection and processing pathways for products certified under AS 4736 and AS 5810.
“Funding would help speed that up, but it’s the pathway that matters most. Money without somewhere for it to go doesn’t shift anything,” she said.
Poulain raised the issue during the Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre Annual Partners Conference in Brisbane, where she joined representatives from the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, Australian Beverages Council and University of Queensland’s ARC Training Centre for Bioplastics for a packaging and plastics panel.
The Queensland strategy was outlined at the conference by Claire Andersen, executive director of the state government’s Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling.
According to Poulain, the policy gap needs to be considered in the context of the approximately seven million tonnes of organic material still being sent to landfill in Australia each year. She pointed to a presentation from the City of Gold Coast at the conference, which reported that none of its households currently had access to a food organics and garden organics service.
“With 2030 not far off, it’s exactly why we think compostables need to be named and planned for properly, not left to sort themselves out,” Poulain said.
“Certified compostables give households and councils an actual diversion pathway for food waste that would otherwise go straight to landfill, so getting them recognised in the strategy isn’t a side issue – it’s part of how that seven million tonnes actually gets moved.”
The broader conference discussion examined the respective roles of conventional and bio-based plastics in a circular economy, along with the policy, research and industry settings required to support their recovery and appropriate end-of-life management.
Research presented during the three-day conference included University of Queensland work investigating the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA, from Australian sugarcane by-products. RMIT University also presented research into compostable barrier films for food packaging.
