Our Annual Report for 2012 is now available on the APC website.

2011-12 marked a period of continued achievement for the APC and its 786 signatories. This activity has contributed to the increased recovery and recycling of packaging material, and the diversion of material from landfill.

During the financial year, industry and government committed over $6.1m to the funding of 40 new projects with a focus on glass, plastics and away-from-home recycling initiatives.

Download a copy of the APC Annual Report 2012

The overall recycling rate for post-consumer packaging in Australia is 63.8% for 2012.

Collaborative product stewardship actions have led to this considerable improvement in the recycling rate from the 39% baseline established in 2003.

The establishment of the Packaging Covenant itself has had a direct contribution to the increased national recycling rate. APC funded projects have accounted for up to 32.4% of the overall increase in recycling tonnes from 2005-2012.

The full recycling rate data is available in the APC Annual Report 2012.

A reminder to signatories that annual reports are due to be submitted online by the 31st of March.

Signatories who have a registered action plan at 31 March 2012 are required to report this year. The reporting period is 1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012 (financial year) or 1 January 2012 – 31 December 2012 (calendar year).

Signatories whose action plans were registered after 1 April 2012 will only be required to report in March 2014 for the 2012/13 period.

For help completing your annual report see our Resources Database for the 2013 Guide to Quality Reporting.

The 2013 funding round opens Monday 11 February 2013 and the APC will accept applications until 22 March 2013.

The APC will accept proposals for all projects that meet the funding criteria in the application form.

To download the application form visit the project section of the APC website.

You can also check out past and current APC funded projects in our projects database. Since 2005, the Covenant has funded 140 projects with a total project value of over $126m.

(Brett Giddings, Ian Kiernan and Stan Moore on Business Clean Up Day)

On 26 February 2013, representatives from nineteen APC signatories collected over 250 bags across 35 clean up sites.

The APC ran their own clean up in Gordon (NSW), involving several other local businesses.  Attended by Ian Kiernan, the APC staff worked with about 35 participants to collect almost 30 bags of recyclables and waste.

Read more about Business Clean Up Day

The Design Smart Material Guides Launch was held on 7 March from 6pm at the Genia McCaffery Centre for Sustainability at the Coal Loader, Waverton. Beside the Centre’s many sustainable refurbishments, which include the passive solar design, natural ventilation and recycled rainwater re-use system, guests enjoyed the spectacular views and breeze from the balcony with a glass of wine donated by event sponsor Jacob’s Creek.

During the evening, awards were presented to Business Clean Up Day competition winners Baiada and Sanitarium and guests were introduced to the guides, which provide a ‘checklist’ of sustainability considerations when designing and/or specifying packaging based on particular materials. They are a comprehensive resource intended to support packaging assessments against the SPG, and will be available to signatories only via the APC website in the near future.

Thank you to all who attended the launch night and made it such a wonderful evening.

The Timber Development Association and the Environment Protection Authority are presenting a free seminar in NSW to assist companies adopt timber recycling initiatives.

Speakers from timber recyclers, EPA and Timber Development Association will assist companies to: 

• Identify real opportunities to recycle waste timber and learn from industry leaders.
• Understand the financial benefits of timber recycling.
• Understand legislative and regulatory parameters of timber recycling in NSW
• Increase motivation to implement strategies.

For dates and locations please download this flyer.

The APC is an event partner of a one-day Round Table on “The Marketing Impacts of Packaging Sustainability”, jointly hosted by SPA and RMIT.

The Round Table is scheduled to take place at the RMIT Design Hub in Melbourne on 21 March 2013 and will feature speakers and discussions from marketers, retailers, brand owners and designers.

Download the event brochure