ANZPAC launches to tackle plastic waste

The ANZPAC Plastics Pact (ANZPAC) has launched in the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands region today, uniting businesses, NGOs and governments behind a series of ambitious 2025 targets to eliminate plastic waste.

Joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network, the ANZPAC Plastics Pact is said to represent the complete plastics supply chain, from leading brands, packaging manufacturers and retailers to resource recovery leaders, government institutions, and NGOs. Among the Pact’s members are Coles Group, Woolworths Group, ALDI Australia, Coca-Cola South Pacific, Mondelēz Australia, Nestlé Australia and Unilever (full list below).

The ambitious new cross-regional program is expected to “fundamentally transform” our response to plastic. This will be achieved by eliminating the plastics we don’t need, innovating to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and circulating the plastic we use, keeping it in the economy and out of the environment.

Targets

ANZPAC members will work towards four “clear, actionable” targets by 2025:

• Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign, innovation and alternative (reuse) delivery models.
• 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.
• Increase plastic packaging collected and effectively recycled by 25% for each geography within the ANZPAC region.
• Average of 25% recycled content in plastic packaging across the region.

The immediate next steps for members, says the program, will be to develop a roadmap for action.

Brooke Donnelly, the CEO of Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (ANZPAC lead organisation) comments: “On behalf of the ANZPAC team, and our passionate community of founding members, it is my pleasure to officially launch the ANZPAC Plastics Pact for the Oceania region.

“As well as a growing problem, plastic is also fundamentally an international one. To tackle plastic waste effectively we need to find solutions that aren’t constrained by national borders or old ways of thinking. Through the Plastics Pact model, we will bring together the complete plastic supply chain across the entire Oceania region, and working with our global partners through the Plastics Pact network, develop solutions that deliver real and tangible change to the plastic problem for our region.

“Congratulations to all of our founding members on their genuine commitment to achieving a circular economy for plastics and their willingness to break down traditional barriers and accelerate truly innovative solutions.”

Founding members and supporters

1. ALDI Australia
2. Amcor Flexibles
3. The Arnott’s Group
4. Asahi Beverages
5. Australian Beverages Council
6. Australian Bioplastics Association
7. Australian Food and Grocery Council
8. Australian Institute of Packaging
9. Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia
10. Clean Up Australia
11. Coca-Cola South Pacific
12. Coles Group
13. Colgate Palmolive
14. Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation
15. Disruptive Packaging
16. Earthwise Group
17. ecostore
18. EGO Pharmaceuticals
19. Good Environmental Choice Australia
20. Keep New Zealand Beautiful
21. KeepCup
22. Klöckner Pentaplast Group
23. Mad World
24. Marine Plastic Solutions
25. Mettler Packaging
26. Mondelēz Australia
27. Nestlé Australia
28. O F Packaging
29. Ocean Impact Organisation
30. PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand
31. Piber Plastics Australia
32. Planet Ark Environmental Foundation
33. Planet Protector Packaging
34. Plastic Energy
35. Pledge for the Planet
36. RecycleCorp Vanuatu PLC
37. Samoa Recycling Waste Management Association
38. Samoa Tourism Authority
39. Sancell
40. Scholle IPN
41. Seaside Scavenge
42. Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
43. Solomon Islands Recycling Waste Management Association
44. Stongim Bisnis
45. Tacca Industries Pty
46. TerraCycle Australia and New Zealand
47. The Better Packaging Co.
48. Polystyrene Solutions
49. TIPA-Corp
50. PAKTOEARTH
51. Unilever Australia
52. Vanden Recycling
53. Vanuatu Beverage
54. Vanuatu Brewing
55. Vanuatu Environmental Science Society
56. Vanuatu Recyclers and Waste Management Association
57. Vava’u Environmental Protection Association
58. Veolia Environmental Services
59. Woolworths Group
60. World Wide Fund for Nature