A nationwide promise to phase out expanded polystyrene from consumer packaging such as of white goods and electronics is more than a year behind schedule, with the packaging industry saying it was never a workable proposal.
In March 2021 the Morrison government announced expanded polystyrene used to package and protect a wide range of consumer products would be phased out by the middle of last year.
But the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (Apco), a not-for-profit group responsible for delivering national targets for recycling and packaging, and the expanded polystyrene industry have told the Guardian there is “no viable alternative” to the material.
The failed phase-out comes as the Albanese government is pushing ahead with plans to regulate standards for packaging by 2025 to increase the use of recycled materials and the amount of packaging that is recycled.
One peak industry group representing the waste management and recovery industry said the country needed a fresh start to managing and regulating waste and recycling.
In a statement to the Guardian, Apco said it had worked with industry to “set out a roadmap” for the phase-out of expanded polystyrene (EPS).
“EPS is a problematic material, yet complete phase-out, while preferable, was not possible,” the statement said.
“At the moment, there is no viable alternative to EPS available in Australia for businesses with heavy products (heavier than 45kg) like white goods, nor is there a solution for precision instruments, for example.”
EPS was still “entering the environment as a litter stream” and was “causing contamination”, Apco said.
The organisation was working with EPS manufacturers in Australia and importers to “frame an effective and efficient stewardship program to capture and recycle packaging EPS placed on the Australian market.”
Becher Townshend, the executive director of EPS Australia, which represents manufacturers, said the organisation had “made it clear to the federal government [that] moves to ban moulded EPS in white good would be unworkable”.
“Put simply, there are currently no suitable alternatives for the packaging and transport of fragile and precision goods,” Townshend said.
He said moulded EPS was “fit for purpose” because it reduced packaging size and weight, which reduced fuel consumption and damage of goods during transport.
“Many white goods manufacturers are examining alternatives to moulded EPS for white goods, but at this stage there has been limited success with alternatives, especially in moving precision and fragile goods,” Townshend said.
Earlier this year the industry began to roll out a nationwide recycling scheme for EPA called Styrocycle aimed at consumers. Some local council waste and recycling centres also accept polystyrene from the public.
Townshend said EPS Australia estimated about 30% of EPS was currently being recycled.
“While moulded EPS for white goods in imported product is not produced by our members, we are committed to being part of the solution and would call on the federal government and others to work with us to develop a meaning full product stewardship program for this product.”
In a statement, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said: “The Liberals and Nationals made a whole lot of announcements on waste and recycling and didn’t deliver.
“The government has already announced we’re working with state and territory governments to regulate packaging in law, including polystyrene.”
At a meeting last month, state and federal environment ministers agreed the federal government would “step up as the new regulator of packaging standards”.
In a communique, the ministers wrote: “The federal government will mandate how packaging is designed, will set minimum recycled content requirements, and prohibit harmful chemicals being used.
Suzanne Toumbourou, the chief executive of the Australian Council of Recycling, said the government stepping in to regulate was “strongly welcomed”.
But she said a lack of consistency across states was “profoundly unhelpful” for the industry.
“We want a national framework for resources recovery that states would bind themselves to,” she said.
Gayle Sloan, the chief executive of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia, said the current approach of mostly voluntary actions and a “co-regulatory” approach had “not been successful”.
Sloan said it had been clear for years that targets for packaging would not be met and there were also doubts that national targets to recover 80% of all waste by 2030 would also not be met.
She said unlike in South Australia and Western Australia, compostable packaging was not allowed into public compost schemes in New South Wales.
Latest data from Apco on the 2025 packaging targets shows 86% is reusable, recyclable or compostable against a 100% target. There is a wider gap against 2025 targets for 70% of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted (18% achieved to date) and for 50% of packaging to come from recycled material (39% achieved).
An Apco statement said: “Now is the time for industry to take action – by closing the gaps to the targets, businesses will be better placed in the post-2025 system.”
