{"id":621761,"date":"2026-09-11T20:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621761\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T20:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:16:13","slug":"labor-ditches-new-packaging-laws-to-cut-plastic-waste-sparking-unprecedented-scale-and-breadth-of-outrage-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/621761\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor ditches new packaging laws to cut plastic waste, sparking unprecedented \u2018scale and breadth of outrage\u2019 | Australian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Albanese government has been accused of breaking a promise after it shelved a longstanding commitment<\/a> to bring in packaging standards intended to force manufacturers and retailers to cut plastic waste.<\/p>\n

The federal environment department told industry representatives via email last week that the promise would not be kept before the next election because the government did not want to \u201cexacerbate cost of living pressures\u201d.<\/p>\n

The director of the Boomerang Alliance, Jeff Angel, warned \u201congoing inaction and token measures won\u2019t be tolerated\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Albanese government\u2019s failure to act on packaging reform as promised is a repudiation of the public\u2019s support of recycling and concerns about the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe scale and breadth of outrage across a broad set of stakeholders from green groups to industry to state governments is something I have not seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The packaging laws had been under development since a 2023 agreement<\/a> between the federal and state governments that the then environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, described as \u201chistoric\u201d. They would have required producers to cut waste and boost plastics recycling.<\/p>\n

Clean Up Australia\u2019s annual litter reports<\/a> highlight the persistent problem of packaging in the environment, with packaging accounting for 59.5% of all litter reported.<\/p>\n

A suite of potential rules would have set design standards for packaging, for example by prohibiting use of certain chemicals, restricting unnecessary or excessive layers of packaging, or limiting the amount of empty space permitted within packaging.<\/p>\n

Other potential changes could have required producers to be responsible for the packaging across its full life cycle \u2013 from the design stage to how the packaging is used and then disposed of.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s decision to shelve its plans were due to its concern that any costs arising from changes could be passed on to consumers when they bought products such as groceries.<\/p>\n

The department email said the environment minister, Murray Watt, wanted to pursue reforms \u201cin a way that balances environmental outcomes with the broader needs of the economy, with the government looking closely at its policies to ensure it does not exacerbate cost of living pressures\u201d.<\/p>\n

The email said \u201ca new Commonwealth scheme for packaging will not be introduced in this term of government\u201d and the government would instead work with the states and territories \u201con opportunities to improve Australia\u2019s packaging regulations and policies in the nearer term\u201d.<\/p>\n

The plastics campaign manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Cip Hamilton, said the decision was \u201cdeeply disappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecyclers want action, businesses want certainty, and environmental organisations want an end to plastic pollution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost everyone was at the table, and the government has walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hamilton said the laws would have \u201cput the cost and the responsibility back where they belong \u2013 on the businesses using the packaging, not the households stuck with it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic pollution is having very real consequences. Little penguins are choking, seabirds are starving, and corals are suffocating,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation chief executive, Chris Foley, said producers wanted certainty. He said a national packaging regime with clear rules would \u201cunlock investment in recycling, and replace fragmented approaches with a more consistent system\u201d.<\/p>\n

The chief executive of the Australian Council of Recycling, Suzanne Toumbourou, said the sector was calling for a \u201cnationally consistent scheme with real targets\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already seeing recycling facilities close, with others under growing pressure, and the investment that built them go to waste, because there is no policy certainty to keep them viable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Watt said the government understood that waste and recycling firms faced a range of challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Albanese government is working closely with industry, and state and territory governments to strengthen the systems that support recycling, and improve the circularity, of Australia\u2019s packaging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to delivering stronger environmental outcomes while keeping costs to consumers and wider industry in check.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the government\u2019s immediate focus was to work with the states and territories to \u201creduce waste by harmonising packaging and recycling policy in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Albanese government has been accused of breaking a promise after it shelved a longstanding commitment to bring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-621761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}