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Material Stewardship Committees

APCO’s Material Stewardship Committees (MSCs) bring together technical experts from across the packaging value chain, providing a unique forum where packaging designers, brand owners, manufacturers, recyclers, reprocessors, retailers and industry organisations can work through shared challenges and opportunities. 


They meet regularly to address system challenges and support practical, scalable outcomes aligned with Australia’s packaging reform agenda. 


The MSCs are: 

  • Soft Plastics.
  • Rigid Plastics.
  • Fibre.
  • Metal and Glass.
  • Labels. 

 

Purpose of the MSCs

The MSCs exists to enable a thriving circular economy for its nominated material. The MSCs: 

  • play a convening and advisory role across the value chain,  
  • facilitating inclusive dialogue,  
  • building a shared understanding of challenges and opportunities, and  
  • developing consensus on actions that advance APCO and broader sector circularity objectives.  

The Committee also supports ongoing progress by guiding and advising working groups. 


Committee function 

The Committee, using data driven insights:  

  • develops and maintains a Material Pathway and a 3–5 year action plan, informed by material flow analysis to identify priority interventions.  
  • Agrees and delivers priority actions,  
  • supports key projects and 
  • provides sector-wide guidance and consensus on circularity, legislation, and related issues. 


Read the Material Stewardship Committee Charter.

Read the Material Stewardship Committee Terms of Reference.



Material Stewardship Committees 2026 activities 

Current and emerging MSC priorities 

  • LDPE film and pallet wrap recovery pathways. 
  • Business-to-business corrugated recovery. 
  • Recycled content traceability. 
  • Coated paper packaging recovery. 
  • Thermoform packaging pathways. 
  • Evidence and guidance to support packaging reform readiness. 

Previous meetings update (Q4 2025) 

Recent MSC meetings focused not only on material pathway priorities, but also on a broader question increasingly facing industry: 

 

What needs to be true for packaging reform to be effective, efficient and nationally consistent? 

 

Across discussions, members reinforced that packaging outcomes cannot be solved through recycling alone. Good outcomes depend on packaging design, collection systems, sortation capability, reprocessing infrastructure, end-market demand, consumer behaviour, policy settings and investment certainty all working together. 

  

Industry is seeking greater certainty 

A consistent message across MSC discussions was that many organisations are operating in an environment of policy uncertainty while awaiting further direction on national packaging reform and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). 

 

Members highlighted that future investment decisions, packaging redesign programs, recycled content commitments and infrastructure planning all benefit from greater clarity on future regulatory settings and implementation pathways. 

 

While industry recognises that reform will take time, Members expressed a strong desire for greater visibility of the direction of travel and the practical steps needed to prepare. 



Themes

Strengthening system intelligence through data 

The MSCs reviewed APCO’s 2023-24 Consumption and Recovery (C&R) data and identified several opportunities to improve visibility of material flows and recovery outcomes. Priorities included: 

  • Better understanding business-to-business recovery pathways, including corrugated fibre, pallet wrap and rigid plastics. 
  • Improving material classifications to better reflect real-world recovery performance. 
  • Using complementary datasets, including CDS information and pathway mapping, to strengthen understanding of capture, leakage and end-market outcomes. 
  • Exploring how data can support future policy design, infrastructure planning and EPR implementation.

Members consistently emphasised that better data is important, but that data gaps should not prevent practical progress where sufficient evidence already exists. 


Sustainable Packaging Guidelines: A regulation-ready refresh 

The recent refresh of APCO’s Sustainable Packaging Guidelines (SPGs) was discussed across the MSCs as an important step in helping organisations navigate an increasingly complex packaging landscape. 


The updated guidance strengthens APCO’s Sustainable Packaging Principles while providing greater support for packaging teams balancing performance, food safety, product protection, circularity and emerging regulatory requirements. 


Members welcomed the stronger emphasis on system outcomes, recognising that recyclability alone does not necessarily deliver circularity. Material quality, recovery yield, contamination risk and end-market viability all influence whether packaging remains in productive use. 


Best in Class Design Guidance: HDPE milk bottles take Principles to performance 

The HDPE milk bottle Best in Class Design Guidance was highlighted as an example of how APCO is translating high-level principles into practical packaging design guidance. The framework distinguishes between: 

  • Best in Class designs that actively support circular outcomes. 
  • Industry Baseline designs that remain compatible with current systems. 
  • Disruptive Features that reduce recovery efficiency, material quality or end-market value. 

This approach helps move industry conversations beyond a simple "recyclable or not recyclable" lens and toward a deeper understanding of system performance. 

Future Best in Class work is expected to expand into additional packaging formats based on industry priorities identified through the MSCs. 


Labels: Small component, large system impact

Labels and decoration systems were discussed across multiple material pathways, reflecting their ability to influence recovery outcomes in fibre, plastics, glass and metals. Discussions explored the impacts of: 

  • Label construction and material choices. 
  • Adhesives, inks and coatings. 
  • Wash-off performance. 
  • Compatibility with mechanical and advanced recycling pathways. 
  • Practical operational requirements such as retailer labelling and food safety needs. 

Members broadly agreed that labels should be considered as part of the primary packaging design process rather than as a separate component. 


Get involved 

MSC work relies on active industry participation. Please contact the APCO team if you’re interested in: 

  • Joining an MSC or project group. 
  • Contributing data, case studies or technical expertise. 
  • Helping shape future priority projects.