Australia’s Response to Plastic Packaging: Towards a Circular Economy for Plastics

Abstract

Reducing the amount of plastic packaging being produced and disposed of is an urgent and significant challenge for regulators and for society more broadly. In recent years, the circular economy has emerged as a key paradigm for conceptualising solutions to plastic and other kinds of waste. While waste management is focused on dealing with materials once they are wasted, the circular economy paradigm calls for changes to the whole supply chain including how plastics are made and used. Australia, along with other nations, has incorporated the concept into waste laws and policies. This article addresses the challenge of using the reconceptualisation of waste offered by the circular economy paradigm in regulatory responses to plastic packaging. By developing principles that draw on the literature relating to the circular economy and regulatory studies, this article illustrates how to design regulatory interventions that support the creation of a circular economy for plastic packaging. Using these principles, the article evaluates Australia’s regulatory framework for plastic packaging. Despite the political and media attention on reducing plastic packaging pollution, this article finds fundamental flaws and gaps in the regulation of plastic packaging and identifies options for improving the current approach consistent with the proposed regulatory design principles.