Tuesday 15 June 2021
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) warmly welcomes the NSW Government’s announcement of a $356 million investment to support the phase out of single-use plastics and the rollout of a uniform approach to food waste reduction across the state.
“We congratulate Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the NSW Government on the announcement of its comprehensive, integrated plan for plastics and waste in NSW. Reflective of changing consumer sentiment, these are important issues for retailers in NSW and across the country,” ARA CEO Paul Zahra said.
“The announcement is also important because it moves us closer to national harmonisation on the phase-out of single-use plastics and positions NSW, the largest market for our members, as a leader in waste management and recycling. We believe that this will also support the efforts of other jurisdictions to move forward with their own phase-outs of single use plastics.
“And whilst we recognise the significant environmental impact caused by single-use plastics, we need to ensure that these important changes are implemented in a way that minimises operational impacts for our members, with cost-effective sustainable packaging alternatives available to support the phase-out.
“The ARA is committed to being a supportive and constructive government partner as we transition to the circular economy of the future. We have recently announced our own partnership with Good360 to start addressing pre-consumer waste, we are actively participating in Federal Government discussions on clothing textile waste, and we look forward to working with the NSW Government to make sure these changes achieve their desired objectives,” Mr Zahra said.
