Paper Bubble Wrap: Trash to Treasure?

A new paper bubble wrap, featuring a honeycomb design, offers comparable performance and cost to traditional plastic bubble wrap but is fully recyclable.

Visy's chief executive, Mark De Wit, highlighted the environmental benefit, stating the paper product can be recycled into new boxes within weeks, unlike plastic which lingers in landfills for centuries.

This innovation is part of a broader trend in Australian consumer products and packaging over the past five years, driven by annual recycling roundtables. Visy has also developed cardboard alternatives for painter's protective sheets and insulated material to replace polystyrene, alongside fruit and vegetable punnets made from recycled cardboard.

Asahi Beverages has adopted fibre-board packaging for six-packs, making its primary packaging fully recyclable, reusable, or compostable. Nu-Pure has reduced the plastic in its water bottles, creating some of the lightest PET bottles in Australia.

Australian-produced glass now contains 54 percent recycled content, with Visy aiming for 70 percent by next year, placing the country ahead of many others globally.

Despite these strides, a lack of agreement on national packaging standards by federal and state governments is hindering further growth. Suzanne Toumbourou of the Australian Council of Recycling has criticized the delay, noting that substantial Australian plastic reprocessing capacity remains idle.

Australians generate over 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging annually, with only 19 percent recycled. Recyclers are facing commercial peril due to idle capacity and delayed government reforms.

The industry advocates for mandatory national standards to provide investment confidence. While the Albanese government has discussed legislation since 2022, inter-state agreement remains a challenge, with some states concerned about potential minor cost increases for consumers.

Minister Murray Watt indicated packaging standards would be discussed in September, with national policy payments to states being a potential incentive.

De Wit noted that while glass, cardboard, and aluminum recycling are economically viable, hard plastics face challenges due to fluctuating virgin material prices tied to oil. He advocates for mandatory minimum recycled content in plastic bottles, similar to the EU, UK, California, Washington State, and New Jersey.

This measure, estimated to add half a cent to one cent per bottle, would not significantly impact the cost of living. Another critical issue is imported drinks with non-recyclable wrappers, such as PVC, which contaminate the PET recycling stream.

George Zoghbi of Arnott's Biscuits suggests expanding curbside collection to include soft plastics and implementing a color-dot system on packaging to match bin colors, which would require harmonized bin collection systems across states and territories.