The National Plastics Design Summit will be held in Canberra on 14 February 2022, announced Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley.
Ley said the summit will focus on designing reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic products in every-day applications and that she is challenging companies to come forward armed with ideas and clear commitments.
“We simply can’t keep creating virgin plastic on the scale we are today, and this Summit will look at keeping plastics in use as long and as often as possible, adding value to the material multiple times.
“The Summit will explore opportunities to unlock growth for new industries and new markets.”
Ley made the announcement while in Hobart visiting Cadbury Australia, which unveiled its latest prototypes of recycled plastic packaging.
“Cadbury has committed to purchasing enough recycled plastic packaging to wrap 50 million family blocks of chocolate.
“This exciting development in recycling soft plastics can be traced back to collaboration between companies at the first national waste summit in 2020 and collaboration with industry is at the heart of our transformation of Australia’s recycling industry,” said Ley.
Ley said that the government will continue to work with consumers and industry in expanding local recycling capabilities, in an effort to reach the nation’s National Packaging Targets of 20 per cent average of recycled content in plastic packaging.
Darren O’Brien, President of Mondelez International, said that while Cadbury was currently accessing the latest technology from overseas to source recycled material, it was focussed on creating demand for recycled product.
“We know that demand for circular packaging will continue to grow, and we’d love to see recycling technology built in Australia. Our significant investment gives local industry the confidence it needs to invest in advanced recycling technology that will be vital for Australia to achieve a truly circular economy.”