Frequently Asked Questions
National Packaging Targets
The 50% average recycled content target refers to packaging across all sectors, including business-to-business and tertiary packaging. We appreciate that varying constraints exist for the inclusion of recycled content across different sectors, including the food and beverage sector – particularly in relation to food contact. This Target encourages those in the packaging supply chain to aim high by identifying packaging applications in which greater than 50% recycled content may be included. Similarly, for those sectors where 50% may be difficult to achieve, it is a case of including the maximum possible percentage to allow the format to meet requirements, while still progressing packaging sustainability goals. For more information on this Target, please refer to this document.
The 2025 National Packaging Targets will deliver a new and sustainable approach to packaging and should be applied to all packaging in Australia. The 2025 Targets provide a framework for collective, national action on waste management, recycling and resource recovery for our product packaging.
Read more about the National Packaging Targets here.
Within the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines an item of packaging is defined as recyclable if its successful postconsumer collection, sorting, and recycling is proven to work in practice and at scale. As a result, this is not limited specifically to kerbside collection. Using the Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Portal (PREP) is a good way to verify recyclability claims for your products and this includes approved “alternative destinations” such as RedCycle.
As the independent backbone organisation supporting the Collective Impact Model, APCO monitors and reports annually on progress against this particular target. This data is released annually in APCO’s Australian Packaging Consumption and Resource Recovery Data and tracked using the recently released 2025 Monitoring Program. Actions you can take as a business to support this target are to phase out any problematic plastics and to label any plastic packaging with the correct Australasian Recycling Label. Individual Members do not necessary need to report on this target specifically, however we would encourage you to review your on-site waste diversion and look to improve recovery of plastics in your systems.
The 2025 National Packaging Targets provide a framework for collective, national action on waste management, recycling and resource recovery for our product packaging. They are:
- 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging.
- 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted.
- 50% of average recycled content included in packaging.
- The phase out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics packaging.
We would recommend using our resource Action Plan for Problematic, Unnecessary and Single-Use Plastic Packaging which can be found here.