Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search

Queensland and NSW floods 2022

Visit recovery.gov.au to see what help is available.

Close
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Agriculture and land
    Agriculture and land Building stronger and more sustainable agriculture, fisheries, forestry and land care.
    • Animal health
    • Farming, food and drought
    • Fisheries
    • Forestry
    • Land
    • Climate change and agriculture
    • Plant health
    • Drought and rural support
    • Mouse infestation advice
    Xylella

    Protect against unwanted plant pests

    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

    Find out more

  • Water
    Water Improving the sustainable management of Australia’s water resources for agriculture, the environment and communities.
    • Coal, Coal seam gas (CSG) and water
    • Commonwealth Environmental Water Office
    • Water policy and resources
    • Wetlands
    Water matters

    Water Matters

    Keep up with the latest news on the department's work in managing Australia's water resources.

    Read the latest edition here

  • Environment
    Environment Improving stewardship and sustainable management of Australia’s environment.
    • Biodiversity
    • Bushfire recovery
    • Climate change and the environment
    • EPBC Act
    • Environmental information and data
    • International activities
    • Marine
    • Partnerships
    • Protection
    • Report a breach of environment law
    • Threatened species & ecological communities
    • Waste and recycling
  • Biosecurity and trade
    Biosecurity and trade Lowering biosecurity risks to Australia, and assisting industry to accelerate growth towards a $100 billion agricultural sector by 2030.
    • Aircraft, vessels and military
    • Biosecurity policy
    • Cats and dogs
    • Exporting
    • Importing
    • Invasive species
    • Pests, diseases and weeds
    • Public awareness and education
    • Trade and market access
    • Travelling or sending goods to Australia
    • Wildlife trade
    Brown marmorated stink bug

    BMSB Seasonal Measures

    Australia has strengthened seasonal measures to manage the risk of BMSB.

    View our seasonal measures

  • Parks and heritage
    Parks and heritage Managing Australia’s iconic national parks, historic places and living landscapes.
    • Australian Marine Parks
    • Australian National Botanic Gardens
    • Booderee National Park
    • Kakadu National Park
    • Christmas Island National Park
    • National parks
    • Norfolk Island National Park
    • Heritage
    • Pulu Keeling National Park
    • The Great Barrier Reef
    • Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
    The reef

    Great Barrier Reef

    Australia is protecting and conserving this World Heritage Area.

    Find out more

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)
    • Climate change
    • Australia's biological resources
    • National Environmental Science Program (NESP)
    • Our science strategy
    • Australian Biological Resource Study (ABRS)
    • State of the Environment (SoE) reporting
    • Bird and bat banding
    • Supervising Scientist
    Abares

    ABARES Insights

    Get 'snapshots’ of agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, or analysis of key issues.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us Enhancing Australia’s agriculture, environment, heritage and water resources through regulation and partnership.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Contact us
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • Payments
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    A day in the life

    A day in the life...

    Our video series showcases the diverse and important work we do.

    Find out more

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Environment protection
  4. Waste and recycling
  5. Plastics
  6. National Plastics Plan
  7. Consumers—Plastics in our daily lives

Sidebar first - EN - Protection

  • National Plastics Plan
    • Prevention
    • Recycling
    • Consumers
    • Plastics in our oceans and waterways
    • Research, Innovation and Data
    • National Plastics Summit

Consumers—Plastics in our daily lives

Person holding mesh shopping bag and cotton shopper with vegetables without plastic bags at farmers market

Person holding mesh shopping bag and cotton shopper with vegetables without plastic bags at farmers market

Consumers play a critical role in Australia’s plastics challenge. The products we choose to buy and how we dispose of them determine the amount of plastic that we generate, recycle and waste.

Actions to support consumers

Click on a heading below or Show all | Hide all

Better recycling information for consumers

Work with industry to ensure all Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) members with annual revenue greater than $500 million use the Australasian recycling Label (ARL) by end of 2023, resulting in 80% of supermarket products displaying the ARL, including recycled content. The Australian Government will also support uptake of the ARL by small to medium-enterprises (SMEs).

Combat ‘greenwashing’

The Australian Government will refer companies making false or misleading labelling and environmental claims such as misrepresentation of recyclability, to the ACCC for investigation.

Consistent kerbside recycling collection

The Australian Government will work with states and territories governments to harmonise kerbside recycling collection.

Recycle Mate

The Australian Government is supporting the national rollout of the Recycle Mate App in 2021. The app helps consumers determine whether a product can be recycled.

Container deposit schemes

The Australian Government will keep working with state and territory governments to better align aspects of Container deposit schemes (CDSs).

Plastic bottles and paper for recycling

Plastic bottles and paper for recycling

Environmentally friendly mesh bags for fruit and vegetables - Say No to Plastic

Environmentally friendly mesh bags for fruit and vegetables - Say No to Plastic

Eco shopping bag

Eco shopping bag

Case studies

Australian households and consumer face barriers to recycling correctly, including lack of consistent information on how to recycle certain materials. The following case studies highlight initiatives that will help households to recycle correctly.

Recycling Soft Plastics

RedCycle has set up recycling stations at the front of nearly all Woolworths and Coles stores around Australia to divert soft plastics out of kerbside bins. Since 2011, the RedCycle program has grown from 100 bins to 1800 bins. 90% of Australians now have access to a RedCycle bin.

To date, RedCycle has collected over 900 million pieces of soft plastic. This is enough to circle the world over 5.5 times. Collected plastic is converted into products like furniture, road asphalt and air conditioner mounting blocks.

Nestlé Australia and iQ Renew

In September 2020, Nestlé Australia and iQ Renew announced their pilot kerbside recycling program for soft plastic. The project has commenced with a pilot of 2000 households on the New South Wales Central Coast. There are plans to expand the project to over 140,000 households, processing around 750 tonnes of soft plastic that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

Read about the soft plastic recycling trial.

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI
Last updated: 22 October 2021

© Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.