Funding to stop packaging waste from landfill

The National Packaging Covenant announced approval of funding for five new projects to start over the next 12 months, which will leverage $42 million of investment into recycling infrastructure and litter prevention in Australia.

These projects have the capacity to divert 130,000 tonnes of packaging waste from landfill. Covenant CEO Ed Cordner said the new projects were a massive win for the environment.

“It is a very exciting time for Australia and these projects can potentially divert a large amount of packaging waste from landfill. For example, one project targets plastic film — which is shopping bags, glad wrap, shrink wrap and stretch wrap — a material which has traditionally been difficult to recover for recycling. This project aims to divert an additional 11,700 tonnes of plastic film from landfill each year, a great environmental outcome,” Cordner said.

Cordner said that other approved projects would significantly boost collection and recycling from commercial and industrial premises in Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and NSW. Two projects, one targeting the reduction of roadside litter in Victoria and the other focusing on glass reprocessing in regional areas in Western Australia, had the potential to provide model approaches for use in other states.

Cordner said funding projects was part of the covenant’s strategy to increase Australia’s packaging recycling rate to 65% by 2010.

“The covenant and its signatories are working hard to divert increased tonnes of packaging to recycling by 2010. We can achieve this if governments, the waste management sector and the packaging industry work together and we are seeing more of this collective effort all the time,” Cordner said.

Covenant is an initiative established by industry and government to divert packaging waste from landfill. It has already contributed funding to more than 50 projects across Australia to increase collection, recycling and redesign of packaging so it is sustainable.