The Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Island Plastics Pact (ANZPAC) launched on 18 May to accelerate the circular economy for plastic in our region. GECA joins ANZPAC as a founding member with other NGOs, advocacy groups, government, FMCG brands, retailers, packaging manufacturers, small and large businesses.
Plastic waste and pollution is a growing global concern of our time. Yet, in Australia, only 18% of all plastic packaging is recycled for future use. If nothing is done by 2040, the volume of plastic on the market will double, and ocean plastic will quadruple. To find a solution, we need to move away from today’s linear take-make-waste model and rethink how we design, use and reuse plastic.
ANZPAC is led by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). ANZPAC is a collaborative program with 60 founding members representing every stage of the plastic packaging supply chain and sharing a circular economy vision for plastic, where plastic never becomes waste or pollution.
Through shared knowledge, investment, and industry-led innovation, ANZPAC will:
• eliminate the plastics we don’t need;
• innovate to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable; and
• circulate the plastic we use, keeping it in the economy and out of the environment.
According to GECA’s CEO, Michelle Thomas, “Plastics are a major environmental problem. Therefore, collaboration between industry, government and consumers to produce solutions and eliminate problematic plastics is urgently needed! In addition, we need to work together to provide alternatives and encourage the uptake of reuse, recycling and circular design.”
“We at GECA are extremely proud to be a founding partner of such an amazing initiative as ANZPAC. We hope that by working together, we can build awareness and drive change and ultimately create better practices.”
ANZPAC Members will work together to meet national and regional Plastics Pact 2025 targets:
To meet these targets, the ANZPAC program will:
ANZPAC is part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation global Plastics Pact Network, a platform to exchange learnings and best practices across countries and regions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastic.
GECA brings a unique blend of skill sets, expertise and connections to support the initiative and help organisations and individuals reach their circular economy goals. We see our role as both providing solutions and supporting others to implement their own. We do this through our not-for-profit ecolabelling program, providing independent third-party assurance on sustainability claims, government and industry advocacy, consulting and training.
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About the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO)
APCO is a not-for-profit organisation leading a circular economy for packaging in Australia. APCO works with governments, businesses, and other organisations from across Australia’s large and complex packaging value chain to develop the insights, resources, and programs needed to build a sustainable national packaging ecosystem. In 2018, the government endorsed APCO to lead the delivery of Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets and ensure all packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. To achieve this goal, APCO is working closely with the government and industry to deliver a range of sustainable design, recycling, waste to landfill reduction and circular economy projects.
About the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK-based charity, develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, such as plastic pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. It works with and inspires business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale globally.
