AFGC Big players in the food and beverage market, like Coca-Cola and Unilever, are already putting processes in place to reduce waste.
Policy makers need to lead the way with circular economy transition There are barriers that need to be overcome if Australia is to meet its packaging targets. Barry Cosier, AFGC director of sustainability, explains.
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n 2020, we are going to hear a lot more about the circular economy. While it is a catch cry that has existed for years, across the globe the push to embrace circular economy principles is accelerating with unprecedented pace. And, while Australia’s food, beverage, and grocery manufacturing sector is working hard to embrace the change that comes with the circular economy, policy makers also need to ensure appropriate time frames and incentivisation schemes are in place to help business transition.
What is the circular economy? Establishing a circular economy means much more than recycling – that is only a small part of the equation. It is restorative by design, focused on extracting maximum value from resources through continued re-use, using as few resources as possible.
Central to the concept is the idea that things should be designed to be maintained and reused and, when no longer useful in their original form, can be used for something else. The loop is closed. In terms of the food, beverage and grocery manufacturing sector, the obvious area where the concept of the circular economy can be applied is in regards to packaging, especially plastic packaging. And in Australia, the sector is collaborating to make it happen.
Food waste With a rapidly growing global population, a reduction in agricultural land, and increasing climate change concerns, reducing food waste is now a global priority. If food waste was a country, it is estimated it would be the world’s third largest carbon emitter (after the USA and China) and utilise a cropland area the size of China. Currently, Australia
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generates an estimated 11.3 million tonnes of food waste per year, with 2.3 million and 2.5 million tonnes being generated on farm and in the home respectively. Currently a mere five per cent of household food waste is diverted from landfill, presenting an opportunity to embrace circular economy principles. Food manufacturers are leading the charge and have focused on reducing food waste. Currently, they divert 95 per cent from landfill to higher order uses such as food rescue, animal feed, application to land and composting, which are already driving significant circular economy outcomes.
2025 National Packaging Targets Across the board, Australian food, beverage and grocery companies are working hard to increase the recycling rate of packaging and reducing the impacts of litter.
Many are playing an important part through their commitments to the 2025 National Packaging Targets, led by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). The four targets, which were set in 2018, are: • to make all packaging 100 per cent recyclable, re-usable or compostable; • to ensure 70 per cent of plastic packaging is recycled or compostable; • to ensure 30 per cent average recycled content in packaging; and • to phase out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics packaging. Recent research undertaken by APCO has confirmed that industry has already exceeded the recycled content target and is now collaborating with Government to set a more ambitious target to stimulate demand in the circular economy.
