As Australia prepares to observe National Recycling Week (9-15 November), the annual campaign’s message is clear: recycling works best when governments, industry and consumers all play their part.
Planet Ark established National Recycling Week in 1996 with a mission to educate and empower Australians to improve their recycling habits following the mantra – reduce, reuse and recycle.
Thirty years on, and with the theme Join the Cycle, where are we as a nation and a planet in our recycling efforts?
The Inside Waste website recently shared an open letter to the Australian Prime Minister by recycling industry leader Mike Ritchie, Managing Director of MRA Consulting Group titled Packaging reform should begin now. Mr Ritchie was writing publicly in response to the Australian Government’s decision to defer the introduction of a new national packaging scheme until a future term of government and 2028 at the earliest.
Mr Ritchie argues that delaying a mandatory national packaging scheme risks stalling progress towards a more effective circular economy at precisely the time Australians are being encouraged to recycle more and waste less.
Knowing what goes where, reducing contamination, choosing reusable options and supporting products made from recycled materials all help keep valuable resources in circulation.
However, Ritchie says the responsibility for achieving these goals cannot rest solely with households. While Australians are increasingly committed to recycling, the packaging entering the market often remains difficult, costly or impossible to recover through existing systems.
According to Ritchie, packaging companies currently make all the key design decisions, including material choice, recyclability and labelling, while the costs of collection, sorting, processing and disposal are largely borne by councils, ratepayers, recyclers and taxpayers.
For National Recycling Week advocates, these views align directly with the campaign’s broader objectives. Better-designed packaging means fewer contaminants in recycling bins, higher recovery rates and more materials being turned into new products rather than ending up in landfill.
This call was also a key message in the recently released Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan team’s fifth Conversation Package titled Voices in a Suffering World.
The message from all Josephites is clear. Consumer action alone isn’t enough to transform Australia’s recycling system. Meaningful progress requires stronger policies that address packaging design and producer responsibility upstream.
Without systemic change on the part of governments and world powers, the actions of individuals and communities will fail to achieve the necessary transformation essential to heal earth and all of creation. Advocacy and political action are critical.
To read the series of Josephite Conversation Packages, visit the Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan Team’s webpage. Here you can also access a comprehensive Recycling Directory – designed to complement the Planet Ark recycling directory.
Louise Carson
Member – Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan Team