On Friday 19 June, over 60 industry stakeholders attended the first industry-wide workshop on sustainable packaging in horticulture.
The workshop, which was successfully conducted via Zoom facilitation was jointly hosted by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Garden City Plastics (GCP) and Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA). It was a follow up from the session on sustainable packaging conducted at the GIA Conference in Perth in March.
Participants were provided with an overview of the packaging issue for Australia and heard about the challenges for the industry in relation to collection and sorting of PP5, as previously covered in our story on ‘Closing the loop on polypropylene (PP5)’ (by Gabrielle Stannus, 28 May 2020).
The workshop identified an industry goal to increase its use of recycled PP5 from 8,000 tonnes per year to 12,000 tonnes per year, a 50 % increase by 2025.
The discussion identified that while plastic plant pots had been the initial driver for the program, all products made from PP5 including plant labels, trays, stakes and tags across the horticulture supply chain, could be included in the collection plan. During the workshop, it was emphasised that the PP5 recycling scheme was an ‘all of industry’ opportunity to support sustainable packaging in horticulture and open to all industry businesses.
Click here to learn more about sustainable packaging on www.greenlifeindustry.com.au