The long awaited independent review of the National Packaging Covenant (NPC) showed the overall recycling rate for Australian packaging was 56 per cent in 2007 and it is likely the Covenant’s target of 65 per cent will be met by 2010.
The review was presented to environment ministers last month who have requested that the NPC council prepare a framework for an extended Covenant beyond June 2010 plus other options for managing the environmental impacts of packaging.
The NPC says the ministers will consider extending the validity of the Covenant model for an agreed term beyond its expiry date at their next meeting.
The NPC council believes that the Covenant has made more than satisfactory progress towards meeting its targets and is in a sound position to move forward. The council continues that a majority of the NPC signatories indicated that they wanted the Covenant to continue beyond 2010.
In addition to recycling rates other key Covenant review findings include:
- Covenant funded projects are effective in making a contribution to the achievement of the targets.
- An overwhelming majority of signatories want the Covenant to continue beyond 2010.
- Since 2003, the amount of packaging going to landfill has decreased by 24 per cent.
- Signatory actions have drastically improved the recyclability and recycled content of packaging.
- The level of participation in the Covenant has exceeded expectations and the cooperative model is working well in Australia.
Dick Gross, chair of Covenant Council says, “The findings of the mid-term review show that the Covenant has been part of a dramatic revolution in Australian packaging which brings great credit to federal, state and local governments, the packaging and waste industries and the community.”
