Australia’s largest manufacturer of rigid plastic products will invest $500 million into transforming the economy around plastic waste, keeping plastics in Australia for reuse, rather than sending them overseas.
I am delighted to announce that Pact Group will partner with government and industry to invest in existing and new facilities for sustainable packaging, reuse and recycling initiatives over the next five years as well as investing further in innovation, technology and research to use more recycled content.
As a result, Pact will have 30 per cent recycled content across its product portfolio by 2025 and keep nearly two billion plastic containers out of landfill.
Pact’s announcement at the National Plastics Summit today follows announcements from major brands McDonald’s and Nestlé, with McDonald’s committing to phase out plastic cutlery by the end of 2020, removing 585 tonnes of plastic waste per annum.
This adds to McDonald’s previous commitment to phase out 500 million straws every year and takes the total annual plastic reduction to 860 tonnes.
Nestlé is partnering with waste management company IQ Renew in a trial that will see soft plastics collected from over 100,000 homes, diverting tonnes of soft plastic otherwise headed for landfill.
The pilot will support households in sorting soft plastics which are poorly sorted at present and which have significant recycling potential.
The recycling economy starts here, this is where we take what are now seen as problems and turn them into assets that create remanufactured products, which create jobs and which grow our economy.
It is wonderful to see industry leaders making commitments that reduce plastic waste, increase recycling, and create jobs and practical community outcomes.
