Boomerang Alliance says new litter data strengthens the case for packaging reform, as environment ministers prepare to meet on 18 September and communities mobilise for World Cleanup Day.
Boomerang Alliance has stepped up its call for governments to act on packaging reform, pointing to the volume of packaging waste collected by community volunteers from Australia’s beaches, parks and waterways.
The alliance said the Federal Government’s decision not to introduce a new Commonwealth packaging scheme during its current term left communities carrying much of the burden for removing packaging litter.
Its statement comes ahead of the Environment Ministers Meeting on 18 September and World Cleanup Day on 20 September, when events will be supported by organisations including Clean Up Australia, Take 3 and Beach Patrol Australia.
According to Clean Up Australia’s FY25 Litter Report, food and non-food packaging and containers accounted for 59.5 per cent of all reported litter. Soft plastics represented 30.5 per cent.
Boomerang Alliance director Jeff Angel said making producers responsible for the packaging they placed on the market was the most effective way to reduce litter and plastic pollution.
“The container refund schemes now operating around the country show that container litter rates can be slashed and recycling increased,” Angel said.
Clean Up Australia chair Pip Kiernan said the figures indicated that voluntary packaging agreements had failed to prevent plastic and packaging waste from entering the environment.
Take 3 CEO Tim Silverwood said Australia could not afford another term without meaningful reform, arguing that industry, recyclers, states, environmental groups and communities were ready for a national approach.
“Recyclers are struggling, industry wants certainty, states are threatening to go it alone, environmental groups are demanding action and health concerns about plastic contamination are mounting,” Silverwood said.
Beach Patrol Australia president Ross Headifen also called for tethered bottle caps to become mandatory, either through container refund schemes or producer-responsibility laws, to address the prevalence of discarded lids.
Boomerang Alliance is urging the Federal Government to act or, in the absence of Commonwealth reform, for states and territories to pursue nationally consistent measures. It has also called on all political parties and independents to support packaging reforms.
