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Department of Climate Change, Energy, Enviroment and Water

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  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Environment protection
  4. Waste and recycling
  5. Plastics

Sidebar first - EN - Protection

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Plastics

National Plastics Plan

Australia is on a plastics mission. It’s a significant challenge and we all – governments, industry and the community – have a role to play.

The National Plastics Plan outlines our actions to:

  • reduce plastic waste and increase recycling rates
  • find alternatives to the plastics we don’t need
  • reduce the amount of plastics impacting our environment.

Download the plan

  • National Plastics Plan 2021

Actions from the Plastics Plan

The National Plastics Plan outlines our approach to increase recycling, find alternatives to plastic and reduce the impact of plastic on the environment.

Plastics

Prevention—Addressing plastics at the source

Plastics

Recycling—Taking responsibilities for our plastic

Plastics

Consumer—Plastics in our daily lives

Plastics

Plastics in our oceans and waterways

Plastics

Research, innovation and data

Plastics

National Plastics Summit

Timeline

2019

  • Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to establish a timetable to ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres
  • National Waste Policy Action Plan (NWPAP) agreed to by Australia’s environment ministers

2020

  • First National Plastics Summit
  • Passing of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020
  • Microbeads phased out in rinse-off cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products

2021

  • CSIRO’s A circular economy roadmap for plastics, tyres, glass and paper in Australia (January 2021)
  • First National Plastics Plan delivers on action 5.5 of the NWPAP
  • Regulate unsorted mixed plastic waste exports (July 2021)
  • First review of National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011 and the Australian Packaging Covenant to evaluate the co-regulatory arrangements
  • National Plastics Design Summit

2022

  • Regulate unprocessed single polymer or resin waste plastic exports (July 2022)
  • Phase out plastic packaging products containing additive fragmentable technology that do not meet relevant compostable standards (AS4736-2006, AS5810-2010 and EN13432) (July 2022)
  • Phase out expanded polystyrene (EPS) from loose fill and moulded packaging in consumer packaging (July 2022), and EPS food and beverage containers (December 2022)
  • Phase out PVC packaging labels (December 2022)
  • Review progress of 2025 National Packaging Targets

2023

  • At least 80% of supermarket products to display the Australasian Recycling Label (December 2023)

2025

  • National Packaging Targets for industry:
    • 100% of packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable
    • 70% of plastic packaging goes on to be recycled or composted
    • 50% average recycled content within packaging (20% for plastic packaging)
    • problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics packaging phased out (target 5 of NWPAP)
  • Work with textile and white goods industry to phase in microplastic filters for washing machines

2030

  • Work with the textile and white goods sectors on an industry-led phase-in of microfibre filters on new residential and commercial washing machines by 1 July 2030

Find out more about actions the Australian Government is taking on plastic waste

Video

Watch the video from the National Plastics Summit 2020.

  • National Plastics Summit 2020(link is external)

What you can do

There are simple actions you can take to reduce plastic waste.

For households

For business

Find out about plastics

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Last updated: 16 May 2022

© Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.