“No Time to Waste”: Inside Australia’s Extended Producer Responsibility Packaging Bill

This blog was originally posted on 4th September, 2026. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.

Authored by Catherine Burke, Senior Quality Assurance Lead (Regulatory Content), Adherent

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Key Insight

Australia’s voluntary, industry-led approach to packaging has failed — none of the national packaging targets set in 2018 were achieved. The Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for Packaging (No Time to Waste) Bill 2026 would make national packaging targets mandatory and legally enforceable for the first time, requiring producers, importers and distributors to take responsibility for packaging through binding recycling, recycled-content and single-use plastic phase-out targets by 2030. The article argues the Australian Government must now commit to a firm timeline to introduce these mandatory laws.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for Packaging (No Time to Waste) Bill 2026
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Australia faces a significant challenge in addressing plastic waste. It is among the world’s highest users of single-use plastics, consuming approximately 147 kg per person each year, while only around 14% is recycled.

Australia currently relies on a voluntary, industry-led approach to packaging, but the results indicate that this model is falling short. Of the national packaging targets established in 2018, none were achieved. For example, only 20% of packaging was recycled or composted, compared with the 70% target.

There is a strong case for moving beyond voluntary commitments towards binding targets for packaging reduction, reuse, recycling and recycled content, supported by a producer-funded soft plastics scheme.

At the heart of this approach should be a clear polluter-pays principle, ensuring that producers take greater responsibility for the packaging they place on the market.

Discover more about packaging regulations in our blog ‘Ask Our Experts: Our Most Popular Questions on Packaging and PFAS‘.

Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for Packaging (No Time to Waste) Bill 2026

Purpose of the Bill

This Bill was first introduced on 13 May 2026 and had a second reading debate on 13 August 2026. The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the Government of Australia to establish a uniform national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging. The proposed EPR scheme would introduce direct, legally binding obligations for producers, importers and distributors to take responsibility for the end-of-life management of packaging placed on the Australian market. It would also make Australia’s National Packaging Targets mandatory and legally enforceable.

Objectives of the EPR Scheme

Clause 5 of the Bill establishes that the Minister is required to make Rules under section 92 of the Recycling and Reduction Act 2020 setting out the requirements necessary to establish the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging which the Minister believes best achieves the objectives of the scheme. It also sets out what the objectives of the extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging would be. These objectives provide that manufacturers, importers, and distributors would be held responsible for managing their packaging products throughout its entire life cycle. They also aim to ensure reductions in the use of packaging and virgin plastics, to ensure that materials and additives that prevent recycling prohibited in or phased out of the manufacture of packaging, where appropriate, to ensure that packaging is produced using best practice eco-design standard and to ensure minimum targets for packaging used and sold in Australia by 2030.

Mandatory Packaging Targets by 2030

These targets are:

• All packaging (not limited to plastic packaging) must be reusable, recyclable or compostable;
• 70% of plastic packaging must be composted or recycled;
• All packaging (not limited to plastic packaging) must be made of at least 50% recycled content, of which 30% at least must be Australian recycled content; and
• Problematic or unnecessary single-use plastics will be phased out.

Scheme Commencement

The EPR scheme must commence three months after the commencement of the Bill, which would commence the day after it receives Royal Assent.

Conclusion

While Australians and Australian industries remain overwhelmingly in support of packaging reform, a move toward mandatory recycling requirements and a nationally consistent approach to plastics recycling, the pace of change remains very slow in Australia. While the Bill suggests there is ‘no time to waste’, the Australian Government has failed to deliver on any of the necessary reforms, which means that a large percentage of used plastic packaging continues to be sent to landfill or littered. It is vital that the Australian Government commits to a firm timeline this year to introduce mandatory national packaging laws which hold producers responsible for the packaging they place on the market and drives demand for Australian recycled content.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for Packaging (No Time to Waste) Bill 2026?
  It is a Bill that would establish a uniform national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging in Australia, introducing direct, legally binding obligations for producers, importers and distributors to take responsibility for the end-of-life management of packaging placed on the Australian market, and making Australia’s National Packaging Targets mandatory and legally enforceable.
• When was the Bill introduced, and what is its current status?
  The Bill was first introduced on 13 May 2026 and had a second reading debate on 13 August 2026.
• What are the mandatory packaging targets under the Bill?
  By 2030: all packaging (not limited to plastic packaging) must be reusable, recyclable or compostable; 70% of plastic packaging must be composted or recycled; all packaging must be made of at least 50% recycled content, of which at least 30% must be Australian recycled content; and problematic or unnecessary single-use plastics will be phased out.
• When would the EPR scheme commence?
  The EPR scheme must commence three months after the commencement of the Bill, which would itself commence the day after it receives Royal Assent.
• Why does the article argue for a mandatory scheme instead of the current voluntary approach?
  Because Australia’s voluntary, industry-led approach has fallen short — none of the national packaging targets established in 2018 were achieved, and only 20% of packaging was recycled or composted against a 70% target. The article argues for binding targets for packaging reduction, reuse, recycling and recycled content, supported by a producer-funded soft plastics scheme and underpinned by a polluter-pays principle.

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