NOVEMBER 2021

Dear Member,

APCO Board Nominations
As you are aware, community and government focus continues to increase on packaging sustainability. In the coming years, the Government and policy makers will be closely monitoring industry progress towards the 2025 National Packaging Targets to assess whether stronger regulatory measures will be required. Currently, there are no food and grocery representatives on the APCO board. 

To ensure brand owners voices are well represented on the APCO Board, at the upcoming APCO AGM the AFGC recommends your organisation votes for nominees who represent food and grocery manufacturers. Nominees include the AFGC in the industry association board role, and Essity (formerly Asaleo Care) in the brand owner board role.

The AFGC recommends organisations vote by proxy prior to the AGM to avoid any technical issues that may be encountered at a virtual AGM. Voting closes at 2pm on the 23 November 2021 (AEST).

NSW Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Bill
In October 2021 the NSW Government introduced the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Bill 2021 which implements NSW Plastics Action Plan reforms.  

At the time of writing, the Bill is still before the NSW Parliament.

Of specific interest to AFGC Members, the current Bill…

• Creates a framework to allow for mandatory product stewardship of regulated products. During the Bill’s introduction to Parliament, the Government indicated it intends to the use these provisions to “strengthen product stewardship for packaging brand owners to align with the 2025 National Packaging Targets”. This is aimed at addressing free riders.
  
  The Bill also allows for the product stewardship of other products. The Bill does not currently impose any product stewardship requirements and sets out that establishing new product stewardship requirements will follow a consultation process and a minimum 12-month transition period.
   
• Prohibits unnecessary plastic items, or which are problematic for environmental, health or economic reasons. Items which are to be included in the first tranche phase out include the supply of lightweight plastic bags, single-use plastic; straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls (not containers with lids), cotton buds; and expanded polystyrene food service items[KR1] [BC2]. The Bill also allows for additional items to be prohibited in the future following a consultation process.
   
• Sets design standards for items for certain reasons. A design standard may require products are made with a minimum amount of recycled content or can be easily recycled. The first design standard foreshadowed is to prevent micro beads in certain personal care items, building upon the existing voluntary phase out of microbeads.
   
• Imposes false and misleading information provisions to avoid ‘greenwashing’.

Victorian Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill 2021
The Victorian Government introduced the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill in late October. The Bill supports Victoria’s transition to a circular economy and gives effect to commitments in Recycling Victoria: A New Economy. While focused on reforms to Victoria’s waste and recycling system, including establishing a new regulator, Recycling Victoria, the Bill also includes the legislative framework to introduce a container deposit scheme.

Climate Change
In the lead up to COP 26 the AFGC has released a statement on climate change which can be found on the AFGC website. Next year the AFGC will begin working with members and supply chain partners to better understand the range of abatement opportunities for the sector. We welcome Member Companies sending us your emissions reduction commitments and actions to help inform our activity on this issue.

If you would like to discuss please contact Kylie Ruth, Sustainability Manager on this issue.

Launch of the Australian Food Pact 
The Australian Food Pact (Pact) was launched by Minister Ley on 21 October 2021. The Pact is a voluntary agreement bringing organisations from across the nation’s food supply chain together in a collaborative, pre-competitive effort to address the issue of food waste in line with the National Food Waste Strategy and the National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study.

The AFGC welcomed the launch of the Pact and congratulated the inaugural signatories. You can learn more about the Pact on the Stop Food Waste Australia website, which includes contact details for more information.

Container Deposit Schemes Update
There are a number of updates pertaining to the various State and Territory Container Deposit Schemes.

Victoria
The Victorian Government has introduced the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill 2021 which includes provisions to establish a container deposit scheme. The Bill outlines a split responsibilities model for the scheme with a single scheme coordinator to manage the administrative and financial aspects of the scheme, and network operator/s to manage the beverage container collection infrastructure.

South Australia
The South Australia EPA is currently seeking submissions on the issues raised in its consultation paper Improving South Australia’s Recycling Makes Cents. The discussion paper includes the following issues for consideration:

• Objectives of the CDS
• Containers included in the CDS
• Scheme approvals and container markings
• Container return rates
• Governance of the CDS

The governance of the CDS is the first area of focus with the other areas to be considered in conjunction with other jurisdictions with the aim of seeking national harmonisation.

The discussion paper is available on the EPA and YourSay websites with consultation closing on Friday 19 November 2021. The AFGC is preparing to make a submission and welcomes member input which can be made to Barry Cosier, Director Sustainability.

Tasmania
The Tasmanian Government recently introduced the Container Refund Scheme Bill 2021 to establish Tasmania’s container deposit scheme which the Government has said will commence operation in 2022.

NSW and ACT
In October, Exchange for Change (EfC) announced the introduction of long-term fixed pricing per material type for supplier contributions that fund the ACT and NSW Container Deposit Schemes, effective for six months from February 2022. Please visit the Exchange for Change website for more details.

NT: Streamlining CDS supply approvals
From 2 October 2021, a new framework for CDS supplier registration is in place arising from amendments made to the Environment Protection (Beverage Containers and Plastic Bags) Act 2011. Further details can be viewed on the NT EPA’s website.

Tackling Food Waste with Technology
Tue 23/11/2021 | 2:00 PM
This webinar will highlight how the food industry is tackling food waste, explore current practices and introduce opportunities for improvement by using digital technologies to benchmark food loss and waste.

Masterclass series: Connecting Circular Economy and Climate Action
Thursdays 25 November 2021 and
2 December 2021 | 9:00am - 12:30pm
This two-part masterclass offered by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS) supports decision makers in business, industry and governments, across debate and actions addressing issues in all supply chain stages.

It is relevant to people concerned with impacts and opportunities in design, manufacturing, retail, procurement, repair and reuse, collections and end of life destinations. The series is aimed at CEOs, CFOs, Business Development, Sustainability, contract and account management, PR/Comms/Brand management.