The Australian Government released a National Plastics Plan outlining the immediate and long-term actions required, to work towards reducing Australia’s plastics problem.

The plan highlights the following overarching goals[1]:

• Reduce plastic waste and increase recycling rates
• Find alternatives to the plastics we don’t need
• Reduce the amount of plastics impacting our environment

Key actions required to achieve these goals[2]:

• Phase out the most problematic plastics
• Work towards making our beaches and oceans free of plastic
• Introduce legislation to ensure Australia takes responsibility for its plastic waste
• Invest to increase our recycling capacity
• Research to find new recycling technologies and alternatives for unnecessary plastics
• Support the community to help Australian’s recycling efforts

The Plan aims to accelerate Australia’s progress in achieving APCO’s Towards 2025 National Packaging Targets.