2025-07-29
The Greens have implored the Albanese government to come clean on Australia’s plastic pollution regulation and immediately commit to reform before next week’s final negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty.
The treaty aims to establish an international legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution, and has long been touted as one of the most significant environmental deals since the Paris Agreement.
The Albanese government has indicated support for the legally-binding treaty, yet failed to mandate the same actions in law domestically. Specifically, Australia has:
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No federal bans on harmful single-use plastics;
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No legally-binding national waste reduction targets;
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No mandatory agreements that hold big producers and retailers responsible for the plastic they put into the world;
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Voluntary, self-regulated approaches to waste reduction that rely on big businesses doing the right thing and that are universally recognised to have failed.
Quotes attributable to Greens spokesperson for waste & recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“The Albanese government’s hypocrisy will be on full display next week if it tries to talk a big game on tackling plastic pollution globally while failing to take any meaningful action on the matter at home.
“Evidence exposed in a 2024 Senate inquiry report into the Albanese Government’s waste reduction and recycling policies reveals Australia is losing the war on waste and that our current and historic federal policy framework has failed.
“Plastic production is set to be one of the biggest drivers of oil extraction over coming decades and there are already reports lobbyists and petrostates are working hard to block progress on the Global Plastics Treaty.
“This is no doubt the same reason action has stalled at home – Labor won’t stare down and regulate big corporations that produce and retail the plastic packaging that is threatening human health and our oceans.
"The Greens implore the Albanese government to come clean on Australia’s plastic pollution regulation and immediately commit to reform before next week’s final negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty.
“Riding the coattails of a legally-binding international agreement while failing to act at home would be a cop out.
“If the Albanese government is serious about walking the talk on plastic pollution it could start by banning harmful single-use plastics, mandating our nation’s waste reduction targets, implementing circular economy design rules on packaging, and legislating an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.”