In July this year, we were honoured to become a member of APCO (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation), formally committing to meeting ambitious sustainability goals for our organisation.
APCO, which was founded in 1999, is a co-regulatory body, working with government and industry to find solutions to the increasing levels of waste that result from packaging. The Covenant is a document that sets out how governments and the packaging industry share the responsibility for managing the environmental impacts of packaging in Australia and APCO is the entity in charge of administering and managing the Covenant.
By becoming a member of APCO we have become a signatory to the Covenant and are looking forward to meeting the commitments and responsibilities that this means in terms of working collaboratively to achieving sustainable packaging outcomes.
APCO intends to have a real impact on the industry with the 2025 National Packaging Targets, which set out specific, measurable goals for significant improvement:
- 100% of packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
- 70% of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted
- 30% average recycled content across all packaging
- Phase out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative delivery methods
In response to these industry goals we have defined our 2022 goals as establishing improved recycling targets, more considered packaging design, sustainable alternatives and minimising waste to landfill. These targets will be continuously measured and adjusted as we make changes to our own practices.
As a company, having the APCO framework helps us to meet our own sustainability targets at the same time as helping to effect a more responsible approach as an industry whole.
We are looking forward to sharing both our own and APCO’s successes as we move forward as an industry that takes preserving our planet seriously.
