Australia’s plan to phase out expanded polystyrene packaging is failing and was never possible, industry says

A plan by the former Coalition government to phase out expanded polystyrene packaging, commonly used in such consumer products as white goods, was never workable, say industry groups. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters

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.