{"id":711758,"date":"2026-06-03T03:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/711758\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T03:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:44:17","slug":"the-unpackit-awards-name-the-worst-offenders-in-australian-packaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/711758\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unpackit Awards name the ‘worst offenders’ in Australian packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has become a popular way for cafes to serve up matcha or iced coffee, but environmentalists say single-use “franken-cans” are among the worst of Australia’s packaging.<\/p>\n

The thick plastic jar is usually filled onsite and sealed with an aluminium top welded to the vessel, making it disposable after a single use.<\/p>\n

And the hybrid product has just taken home the gong for the worst packaging in Australia at the inaugural Unpackit Awards.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Judges reviewed hundreds of nominations from the public before naming “franken-cans” the worst packing in the country. (Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society)<\/p>\n

“These franken-cans tick every box for problematic packaging,” Cip Hamilton from the Australian Marine Conservation Society said.<\/p>\n

“They’re made for single use, built for on-the-go consumption and likely to end up as street litter, are not accepted by container refund schemes and almost impossible to recycle.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got the solution \u2014 it’s a reusable cup. Let’s stick with that.”<\/p>\n

Dishonourable mentions<\/p>\n

The Unpackit Awards were organised by the Australian Marine Conservation Society, WWF-Australia and the Plastic Free Foundation, to shine a light on everything from the shonkiest to the most innovative packaging.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of nominations were received from members of the public before the best and worst awards were decided by a panel of judges.<\/p>\n

Coles, Woolworths and Aldi received a “dishonourable mention” for wrapped avocadoes in plastic netting that shed microplastics.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Three major supermarkets received a “dishonourable mention” for selling wrapped avocadoes in plastic netting. (Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society)<\/p>\n

“About half of the nominations from the Australian public were made for plastic packaging around fruit and vegetables in our major supermarkets,” Plastic Free Foundation executive director Rebecca Prince-Ruiz said.<\/p>\n

Mentos was denounced for its individually wrapped mints that litter the landscape.<\/p>\n

“You see them on the footpath, in the gutter, at the beach \u2014 there’s really no need for them,” Ms Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Mentos was another product to get a “dishonourable mention” in the inaugural Unpackit Awards. (Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society)<\/p>\n

And Kmart copped criticism for its Anko dumbbell set carry case, where weights are individually wrapped in plastic.<\/p>\n

“It’s excessive, it’s unnecessary and it’s single-use plastic we could do without,” Ms Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

Mentos, Kmart and the major supermarkets have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kmart’s brand Anko was criticised for its dumbbell set carry case, which uses single-use plastic packaging to wrap individual items. (Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society)<\/p>\n

Refillable milk kegs win top award<\/p>\n

But the results are not all doom and gloom.<\/p>\n

The award for Australia’s best packaging has gone to Tasmanian company The Udder Way, which has created refillable 18-litre milk kegs.<\/p>\n

The containers are like beer kegs for baristas, and once empty, are sent back to the dairy to be cleaned, refilled and returned.<\/p>\n

“The keg saves nine plastic milk bottles with every use and has replaced an estimated 4.5 million bottles and more than 245,000 kilograms of plastic waste since 2021,” Malene Hand from WWF-Australia Australia said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Udder Way’s refillable milk kegs have reduced the need for 4.5 million single-use plastic milk bottles since 2021. (Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society)<\/p>\n

Sydney business Bearhug was given an honourable mention for its reusable pallet wrap system, designed to cut back on the tonnes of plastic cling waste used when transporting goods.<\/p>\n

Cercle was also celebrated for its reusable steel coffee cups, which the company says has eliminated more than 1.5 million single use cups.<\/p>\n

“Producers can’t be left to their own devices, we’ve seen what happens there,” Ms Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

“Australia really needs strong packaging laws, they were promised in 2022.<\/p>\n

“We need producer responsibility \u2026 but also support for Australian businesses that are innovating and have the solutions.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has become a popular way for cafes to serve up matcha or iced coffee, but environmentalists say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[2666,49208,346007,64,63,240693,346008,2667,346005,104,75,346004,7971,346002,128,346003,346000,102,346006,346001],"class_list":["post-711758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-act","tag-aldi","tag-anko","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-marine-conservation-society","tag-bearhug","tag-canberra","tag-cip-hamiliton","tag-coles","tag-environment","tag-franken-cans","tag-kmart","tag-plastic-free-foundation","tag-science","tag-the-udder-way","tag-unpackit-awards","tag-woolworths","tag-wrapped-avocadoes","tag-wwf-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}