The Queensland Liberal National Party government must explain why it did not support progressing national efforts to cut plastic pollution, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said after the national environment ministers meeting yesterday.
Various measures, including standardising kerbside collections, consulting with industry to improve packaging recyclability and eliminating toxic chemicals such as PFAS, were supported by the federal government and all the other state and territory governments. These measures, which include action on problematic and unnecessary plastics, are supported by the community and waste industry.
AMCS Plastics Campaign Plastics and Packaging Program Manager Tara Jones said, ‘The Queensland LNP government’s lack of support for these sensible measures to address our waste crisis is concerning and confusing.
‘The new government needs to explain why it does not agree with these measures, which have the support of the other environment ministers and the waste industry. This is risking progress on tackling our plastic pollution crisis, and Australia’s ocean wildlife will continue to pay the price.
‘We support federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and other state environment ministers in calling for more consistent kerbside recycling and waste collection across the country,’ she said.
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‘Queensland has some of the lowest rates of kerbside recycling in Australia, with less than half the state’s councils providing a regular yellow-lid kerbside collection service for paper and packaging materials,’ said Tara Jones.
‘More than 11,000 tonnes of litter and illegally dumped waste was cleaned up in Queensland in 2022-23 at a cost of $25 million to taxpayers. It is in Queensland’s best interest to support these measures so we can get on with addressing the plastic pollution crisis,’ she said.
‘Australia is producing too much disposable packaging – 7 million tonnes in 2022, with just 20 percent of plastic packaging recovered for recycling or composting. The packaging industry agreed to national voluntary packaging targets but they will not be met by a long shot, so we need a stronger National Waste Policy Action Plan backed by strong laws to cut plastic use.
‘The government must mandate how packaging is designed, prevent the use of certain toxic chemicals in packaging, and require a minimum amount of recycled content in packaging,’ said Ms Jones.
‘Plastic packaging is the worst offender, with soft plastics, food packaging and beverage litter accounting for nearly 70 per cent of all plastics found by Clean Up Australia volunteers. Plastic pollution is found in more than 60 per cent of seabird species, and more than half the world’s turtles have eaten marine debris including plastics.’
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