Media Release: Broken plastics promise leaves councils and ratepayers carrying the cost

The Federal Government’s decision to abandon its commitment to mandatory national packaging standards will leave councils, communities and ratepayers carrying an even greater share of Australia’s growing waste and recycling burden. 

Australian Local Government Association President Mayor Matt Burnett said councils were disappointed with that the Federal Government had shelved a 2023 promise to implement national packaging standards aimed at curbing plastic waste, after sustained calls for nationally consistent, regulated packaging reform to shift responsibility for waste from communities back to the companies producing it. 

In recent months ALGA has advocated for a mandatory national scheme that would require companies that use packaging to use more recycled content and meet the costs of managing their used packaging, rather than passing those costs to councils and ratepayers. ALGA advocates for full cost recovery for council services that industry uses to reclaim packaging, and minimum service requirements for regional, rural and remote communities. 

“This decision has serious consequences,” Mayor Burnett said. “It risks leaving Australia in no-man’s-land, after years of work by governments, councils and industry towards a nationally mandated system,” Mayor Burnett said. 

“Ratepayers and councils are already paying to deal with enormous volumes of packaging that producers put into the market, and without national regulated product stewardship, there is no suitable mechanism to achieve an effective national approach.” 

Australia uses more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging each year, with more than one million tonnes ending up in landfill or as litter. 

The environmental costs of plastic packaging are projected to exceed $5 billion by 2050, with councils and communities left to shoulder much of that burden if national reform does not proceed. 

Mayor Burnett said the decision also threatened the viability of Australia’s recycling sector, reducing competition and potentially increasing waste costs for councils. 

“If recyclers close or divest because they cannot get the certainty they need to scale up, councils could have fewer providers to contract with, costs could rise, and even more material will end up in landfills that are already under significant pressure,” he said. 

“Without packaging reform, communities will be paying for growing landfills instead of things that make our communities vibrant and liveable, like libraries and parks, safer local roads, and community programs.” 

“The Commonwealth has invested more than $200 million of public money in new and upgraded recycling infrastructure through the Recycling Modernisation Fund. Walking away from the regulation needed to drive production of recycled materials puts the value of that investment at risk.” 

Mayor Burnett said the Government should urgently explain how it would prevent potential flow-ons from the decision, such as stockpiling, recycling facility closures, higher council waste costs and additional pressure on landfill capacity. 

“At a time when councils and households are under unprecedented financial pressure and packaging consumption is growing, walking away from the promised regulatory scheme shifts more of the cost onto ratepayers, indefinitely. 

“We have put a practical solution on the table. Industry support for this national solution has never been higher. Producers should be responsible for the full cost of the packaging they put into Australian communities, and councils need a seat at the table in designing and delivering the system. 

“National packaging reform was supposed to make producers responsible for the products they put into our communities. The Federal Government needs to reconsider this decision and provide a clear, binding pathway to nationally consistent and regulated product stewardship.”