The ARL's New Check Locally Logo for Soft Plastics
Wednesday 19 July 2023
APCO’s Australasian Recycling Label has today launched its new Check Locally logo, which can be used for soft plastics packaging. The logo can also be applied to other any material where significant kerbside or drop off collections exist but are not yet available to 80% of the Australian population.
More about the Check Locally Logo:
Aimed to enhance consumer awareness and provide accurate recycling information, consumers that see the Check Locally logo on-pack will be directed to the ARL website, arl.org.au for kerbside and drop off services specific to each council area in Australia.
This logo will be increasingly important as new collections and stewardship schemes come into effect in the years ahead. It is offered to soft plastics labels being designed or updated now, with the assumption that these products will enter market in the next 12-18 months, which aligns with when collections are expected to resume.
Next steps for ARL / PREP Users:
To qualify to use the Check Locally logo, soft plastics will need to meet new thresholds. These were agreed upon in 2022 and will now take effect. The new thresholds are aligned with global best practice. They encourage design for circularity and enable higher value recovery. Please refer to the Quickstart Guide for further information.
The new thresholds are automatically available for all new projects and old projects can be updated manually. We are continuing to improve the user experience for old projects with PREP with an aim to automate the update across all projects. We will let you know when this is available.
Brands can start reviewing their artwork now and will have until 1st July 2025 to complete their on-pack updates, after which time it will be an ACCC expectation. To review the ACCC correspondence and their guidance to brand owners and retailers click here.
To find out if you are eligible for the new logo, please refer to the decision tree below:
Key threshold changes are listed below and in the table.
- Primary materials: the polyolefin content has increased from a min 70% to 80%.
- PET, PVDC, Paper and Aluminium (not including metallised layers) are not accepted at any % inclusion.
- Nylon, EVOH and PVOH decreased from 30% to 10% inclusion.
- AlOx, SiOx and Acrylic are considered recyclable up to 10%.
- PVC, PS and Bioplastics/compostable plastics remain unacceptable at any percentage.
Labelling for New Zealand
The thresholds for New Zealand remain unchanged.