Labor ditches new packaging laws to cut plastic waste, sparking unprecedented ‘scale and breadth of outrage’

Federal environment department tells industry representatives the government does not want to ‘exacerbate cost of living pressures’

The Albanese government has been accused of breaking a promise after it shelved a longstanding commitment to bring in packaging standards intended to force manufacturers and retailers to cut plastic waste.

The federal environment department told industry representatives via email last week that the promise would not be kept before the next election because the government did not want to “exacerbate cost of living pressures”.

The director of the Boomerang Alliance, Jeff Angel, warned “ongoing inaction and token measures won’t be tolerated”.

“The Albanese government’s failure to act on packaging reform as promised is a repudiation of the public’s support of recycling and concerns about the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution,” he said.

“The scale and breadth of outrage across a broad set of stakeholders from green groups to industry to state governments is something I have not seen before.”

The packaging laws had been under development since a 2023 agreement between the federal and state governments that the then environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, described as “historic”. They would have required producers to cut waste and boost plastics recycling.

Clean Up Australia’s annual litter reports highlight the persistent problem of packaging in the environment, with packaging accounting for 59.5% of all litter reported.

A suite of potential rules would have set design standards for packaging, for example by prohibiting use of certain chemicals, restricting unnecessary or excessive layers of packaging, or limiting the amount of empty space permitted within packaging.

Other potential changes could have required producers to be responsible for the packaging across its full life cycle – from the design stage to how the packaging is used and then disposed of.

The government’s decision to shelve its plans were due to its concern that any costs arising from changes could be passed on to consumers when they bought products such as groceries.

The department email said the environment minister, Murray Watt, wanted to pursue reforms “in a way that balances environmental outcomes with the broader needs of the economy, with the government looking closely at its policies to ensure it does not exacerbate cost of living pressures”.

The email said “a new Commonwealth scheme for packaging will not be introduced in this term of government” and the government would instead work with the states and territories “on opportunities to improve Australia’s packaging regulations and policies in the nearer term”.

The plastics campaign manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Cip Hamilton, said the decision was “deeply disappointing”.