Plastic pollution is an escalating environmental disaster that has severe and enduring impacts on Australia’s coastlines, marine ecosystems and wildlife. As more plastic is produced, more plastic ends up in our environment. In 2023-24 , Australia disposed of 1.06 million tonnes of customer-facing plastic packaging. Projections indicate we’ll continue to see an increase in the production of disposable plastic packaging without systems-level changes.
Despite offering one of the most powerful and scalable opportunities to reduce plastic pollution at the source, Australia lags behind on the introduction of reusable packaging to customers. Through the lens of plastic pollution reduction we’ll examine recent lifecycle analyses of reuse and refill trials in the UK, investigate the environmental benefits of reuse compared to disposable packaging, explore how Australian researchers and businesses can assist in reducing barriers to implementing effective return systems, and what policy solutions we need from all levels of government to make it come together. This session presents a compelling and evidence-based case for reusable packaging for Australian customers, and what we can achieve if we approach the problem collaboratively and equitably.