The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation and Planet Ark have come together to spread awareness of what can and can’t be recycled and their corresponding symbols in their Check it! Before You Chuck It campaign.
The Australasian Recycling Label, introduced in 2018 is designed to make recycling clearer by providing clear instructions on packaging.
“We want consumers to feel empowered about the important role they play in helping Australia to get our approach to recycling right.”
Brooke Donnelly
The launch of the campaign comes off the back of a recent study, Community Attitudes to Waste and Recycling, by Pact Group which highlights the need for education around how to recycle right and develop positive recycling behaviours. The study revealed 81% of Australians are not confident they recycle everything effectively.
Planet Ark Deputy CEO, Rebecca Gilling knows most Australian’s are passionate about recycling but often get confused with inconsistent recycling labels.
“The most common place people look for recycling information is on product packaging, therefore we need to have consistent labelling on that packaging that truly reflects Australia’s recycling infrastructure.”
“The second step is to educate Australians to look for the Australasian Recycling Label when they are at the bin, which will help them recycle right, reduce contamination in our recycling streams and keep recyclable materials in circulation.”
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation CEO, Brooke Donnelly, said “We want consumers to feel empowered about the important role they play in helping Australia to get our approach to recycling right.”
“By educating households and businesses to source separate effectively by following the ARL instructions, we can reduce contamination in the waste stream and ensure valuable materials have the opportunity to be recycled into new products.”
Many people are made to believe packaging can be recycled when it can not due to complicated packaging. Coffee cups usually can’t be recycled, though are made to seem like they can, as they are lined with a layer of polyethylene to make them waterproof when it’s actually only the paper ring on these cups that can be recycled.
