The federal government will force the packaging industry to clean up its act after it failed to meet the waste-busting targets it set for itself.
Work is underway on new mandatory regulations expected to apply nationwide, environment department senior executive Kate Lynch has told senators.
"The government is pursuing regulation - so it will be mandatory new packaging regulation - that we hope to apply country wide," she told a hearing late on Tuesday.
State and territory environment ministers were onboard and had "collectively agreed to reform the packaging regulation system, nationwide".
A range of options are currently being modelled with a view to having a new system in place by 2025, Ms Lynch said.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has been hinting at the change for some time, with the industry recently admitting it would not meet it's own targets to slash the amount of waste going to landfill by ramping up recycling.
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation said its review of the industry's progress was disappointing, and called for a balance between industry-led action and effective government regulation.
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has long been pushing for mandatory regulations and said it's been obvious for years that the industry would fail.
"I hate to say I told you so. We had a massive brawl in the senate in 2020 when the Greens tried to amend the government's once in a generation reform of national waste and recycling legislation to mandate packaging.
"This was inevitable. We knew they were going to fail. (This is) better late than never."
Ms Lynch said environment ministers would discuss the matter at their upcoming meeting.
"In terms of time frame, they have agreed that that should be basically be in place by 2025.
"So towards the end of this year they will consider a draft model with some options. Then there'll be a cost-benefit analysis process done on where they've landed with a decision in the first half of 2024."
In its recent view, APCO said none of the four national targets the industry set for itself would will be met, as planned, by the end of 2025.
The targets included shifting to 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging, and ensuring 70 per cent of plastic packaging is being recycled or composted.
The other two concerned 50 per cent average recycled content in packaging, and the phase-out of "problematic and unnecessary" single-use plastic packaging.
