RECYCLING PLASTIC PLANT PACKAGING

Domus Nursery, Western Australia

What started as a small nursery industry workshop late in 2019 has evolved into a nationally funded plastic recycling initiative with support of the Australian Government.

Australia’s greenlife industry is a large user of polypropylene (PP5) plastic products, namely pots, labels, stakes, trays and tubs. National peak body Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) is working to address the matter of PP5 recycling under its 2020-2023 strategic plan. 

Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets include a target for all packaging to be 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The greenlife industry is focused on its contribution to the targets by supporting a national collection and sorting system of PP5 ‘waste’ to help meet this goal. The industry has committed to its own target to increase its use of recycled PP5 from 8,000 tonnes per year to 12,000 tonnes per year, a 50 percent increase by 2025.

While one major plastic pot manufacturer in Australia currently uses over 7,000 tonnes of recycled PP5 annually to manufacture pots and containers for these customers, a study commissioned by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) found that in 2018 and 2019 only 13.5 percent of PP5 packaging on the market was being recovered for recycling (21,000 from 155,000 tonnes).

Through an application to the Australian Governments National Product Stewardship Investment Fund, APCO and GIA have joined forces to accelerate the development of a programme to establish the Polypropylene Plant Packaging Recycling (PoPPr) for plant pots, trays, tags and stakes in an ‘all of industry’ opportunity to support sustainable packaging in horticulture.

GIA and APCO are working closely with the greenlife sector and supply chain participants across Australia on the design and implementation of an industry-endorsed network of collection points for plant packaging. This will enable Australians to return their plant packaging for recycling into new plant packaging and close the loop on horticultural PP5.

Are you a grower, landscaper, retailer or home gardener? Provide your feedback on what should be done with the pots via the surveys below. All interested parties are strongly encouraged to participate to help inform the development of the business case for an appropriate, relevant and timely collection program for plant packaging.

Landscape survey

Grower survey

Retailer survey

Consumer survey

For more information on the project CLICK HERE.

Find out more about Greenlife Industry Australia via the links below.