New recycling rules in force – do you know what each label means?
Thanks to a new label launched by the government yesterday, shoppers will now find it easier to sort out their recycling.
The Australasian Recycling Label clearly states what parts of the packaging are to be recycled and what needs to be disposed of in landfill.
For a long time, people have dealing with confusion around what they are able to recycle, as many times the packaging features many different components.
For example, the photo below is a label you may find on a box of chocolates.
The image clearly states that the box is recyclable as it is made out of cardboard and the tray which consists of plastic may be recyclable depending on the council you belong to, and then the wrap is not recyclable so should be disposed of in the rubbish bin.
When coming across the label and the instruction to “check locally”, you can visit RecyclingNearYou.com.au to check your council’s policy.
Over 50 Australian businesses have joined the program including Australia Post, Blackmores, Nestle, Officeworks, Unilever and Woolworths.
The label hopes to meet Australia’s 2025 targets to ensure 100 per cent of all packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable.
The aim of the target is to have 70 per cent of Australia's plastic packaging recycled by the year 2025, and to make sure that any new packaging being introduced contains an average of 30 per cent recycled material.
Environment Minister Melissa Price launched the label at the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation’s Towards 2025 event in Melbourne yesterday.
Ms Price said it would remove confusion surrounding recycling and reduce waste.
“[It] provides people with easy to understand recycling information when they need it most, in those few seconds when they are deciding what bin the packaging goes in,” she said.
After China introduced tough new standards that meant most waste from Australia would no longer be accepted, Australia’s recycling industry has been thrown into a crisis.
Australia produces a massive amount of waste a year, with the number being at 64 million tonnes a year. 35 million tones is then recycled and four million tonnes is sent overseas to be disposed of. Out of that number, 1.3 million tonnes is exported to China.
In order to reach the 2025 recycling goals, waste sorting and recovery will need upgrades and extra support for recycling markets will be needed.
Australia’s National Waste Policy is currently under review and will be looking at the entire supply chain process from creation through to use, collection, recovery and recycling of packaging waste.