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SPI Regulation Tracker

Packaging rule · Australia · Plan or strategy

2025 National Packaging Targets

Plan or strategy covering all packaging in Australia, set by Environment Ministers; Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. Expired.

By the SPI teamRule ID PR-AU-001Source consulted 13 October 2026Verified 13 October 2026
Sourced facts

The rule

Recorded from the official source named below. Rates and dates are as the source states them on the date it was consulted.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Authority
Environment Ministers; Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation
Rule type
Plan or strategy
Materials
All packaging
Status
Expired Enacted
Rate or target
50 % average recycled contentRecycled content target revised from 30% in 2020. Exact 2018 adoption date not in source. Target date passed 31 Dec 2025. Date shown is the target deadline.
Adopted or published
31 December 2025
Ends
31 December 2025
From the source

“50 per cent average recycled content included in packaging (revised from 30percent in 2020);”

Official source Parliament of Australia, Senate committee report: Chapter 5 – The need for stronger packaging reformOfficial (government or regulator) · consulted 13 October 2026

Deadlines

Key dates

  1. Adopted or published 9 months ago

  2. Ends 9 months ago

  3. Source consulted by the SPI team 1 day ago

  4. Re-checked by a second SPI team member 1 day ago

SPI analysis

What it means

SPI analysis Our reading of the official source above. Not legal advice; always rely on the official text.

SPI summary

Voluntary national targets set in 2018 for 2025: 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging; 70% of plastic packaging recycled or composted; 50% average recycled content; phase-out of problematic single-use plastic packaging. A Senate committee report records that the targets were not on track to be met. APCO has stated the targets will not be fully met and that a revised target date will be established; environment ministers supported the targets remaining in place in the interim.

In practice

The 2025 National Packaging Targets were voluntary goals for all packaging made, used and sold in Australia, delivered through APCO, and their 31 December 2025 deadline has passed without the targets being met according to the Senate committee report. Environment ministers supported keeping the targets in place while reform proceeds, so brand owners can expect them to continue to frame APCO reporting. Ministers have also agreed that the Australian Government would regulate packaging, including a design standard and minimum recycled content.

Where the record is unclear

  • No revised target date or level had been confirmed in the official source reviewed.
  • The 2018 adoption date is not given precisely on the source page.

Where it sits in the tracker

  • One of 2 packaging rules we track in Australia, of which 1 are plan or strategy rules.
  • In all, 4 plan or strategy rules are tracked across 4 jurisdictions. Compare them below
SPI analysis

Overview

The 2025 National Packaging Targets were set in 2018 after industry and government consultation and endorsed by the federal, state and territory governments, with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) charged with delivering them13. They were never a statute. Their legal anchor was the Australian Packaging Covenant, a co-regulatory stewardship framework under the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994, backed by the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 20111.

That Measure, made on 16 September 2011, aims to reduce environmental harm from the disposal of used packaging and to conserve virgin materials, and its clause 9 has participating jurisdictions oblige brand owners outside the Covenant to recover, re-use or recycle their packaging and keep records5. Brand owners with turnover above AUD 5 million had to sign the Covenant, join an equivalent arrangement or comply with the Measure1.

The deadline was 31 December 2025. APCO states the targets would not be fully met and that a revised target date will be set, and that with the support of environment ministers the targets continue beyond 2025 to keep benchmarking consistent34.

Duties

Who must do what

Brand owner (what it required)

  • Brand owners with turnover above AUD 5 million had to sign the Covenant, join a recognised equivalent arrangement or comply with the Measure, and Covenant signatories were expected to work toward the four targets1.
  • Brand owners under the Measure instead had to recover consumer packaging, ensure its re-use, recycling or energy recovery, advise consumers how to recover it, and keep records of material, weights and recovery for five years (cl. 9(2) and 16)5.

Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation

  • Facilitate progress toward the targets with industry, government and the packaging value chain, and publish national consumption and recovery data against them34.
  • Administer the Australasian Recycling Label, which it has run since 20181.

States and territories (participating jurisdictions)

  • Give the Measure a statutory basis so Covenant signatories are not disadvantaged, notify brand owners before penalising them and set consistent, substantial penalties, and report each year to the Council by 31 December (cl. 9(1), 10 and 21)5.
Scope

Are you in scope?

Work through each question. The answers are the SPI team's reading of the sources cited.

  1. Did your packaging get made, used or sold in Australia?

    If yes
    The targets covered all packaging made, used and sold in Australia1.
    If no
    They did not apply.

  2. Is your annual turnover above AUD 5 million?

    If yes
    You had to sign the Covenant, join an equivalent arrangement or comply with the Measure1.
    If no
    The Covenant route was not mandatory for you1.

  3. Are you a Covenant signatory meeting your Covenant obligations?

    If yes
    Clause 11 of the Measure exempts or deems you compliant5.
    If no
    The Measure's recovery and record duties apply through state law5.

  4. Does your business contribute significantly to the packaging waste stream?

    If yes
    Measure obligations may apply.
    If no
    Clause 12(1) says obligations should not fall on brand owners that do not5.
Checklist

Compliance checklist

  1. Keep reporting against the targets

    By Next APCO reporting cycle

    SPI analysis of the official text. Not legal advice; confirm with the text or counsel. The targets continue past 2025 as APCO's benchmark, so Covenant reporting still measures packaging against the 100%, 70% and 50% levels and the single-use plastic phase-out4.

    Evidence to keep Annual APCO report with per-target figures.

  2. Benchmark against the 2023-24 national figures

    By Now

    Compare your portfolio with the national 86% reusable, recyclable or compostable, 20% plastic recovery and 44% average recycled content in APCO's 2023-24 data4.

    Evidence to keep Portfolio data set out the same way.

  3. Watch for the revised target date

    By When APCO announces it

    APCO says a revised target date will be established; replan to it once published3.

    Evidence to keep Dated review note.

  4. Prepare for mandatory design rules

    By Now

    Ministers agreed that the Australian Government would regulate packaging, including a National Packaging Design Standard, minimum recycled content and a ban on harmful chemicals1. Track this alongside the EPR bill in PR-AU-003.

    Evidence to keep Gap list of SKUs against likely design rules.

  5. Build auditable data

    By Now

    APCO asks brand owners to invest in auditable data and evidence governance, and the Senate committee recommended APCO publish supermarket and producer data on target progress (Recommendation 12)24.

    Evidence to keep Documented data sources and controls.

Enforcement

Enforcement and penalties

Who enforces
States and territories under their own laws applying the Used Packaging Materials Measure15
Powers
Participating jurisdictions can audit brand owner records and let local governments recover collection costs from non-compliant brand owners (cl. 9(6) and 16(4))5.
Enforcement so far
A 2021 independent review found failures in the Measure's implementation and enforcement, and APCO called enforcement a critical weakness of the framework1.

Penalties

BreachPenaltyLegal basis
Missing the 2025 targetsNone: the targets were voluntaryNo legal penalty attaches to the targets themselves1
Brand owner outside the Covenant failing Measure dutiesSet in each state or territory's lawMeasure cl. 10 asks jurisdictions to set substantial penalties consistently5

Free riders were the gap. APCO members accounted for an estimated 70% to 81% of packaging in 2022-23, and the department said the Measure would be overtaken by a reformed scheme1.

Connections

How it fits with other rules

Timeline

History of the rule

  1. Used Packaging Materials Measure taken to commence (cl. 2(1))5.

  2. Measure remade as the 2011 instrument5.

  3. 2025 National Packaging Targets set13.

  4. Recycled content target raised from 30% to 50%1.

  5. Independent review finds failures in the Measure's enforcement1.

  6. Data for 2022-23 show little or no progress1.

  7. Senate report No time to waste recommends mandatory stewardship2.

  8. Target deadline passes without the targets being met3.

Questions

Questions

Did Australia meet its 2025 National Packaging Targets?

No. APCO's 2023-24 data show 86% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging against 100%, 20% plastic packaging recovery against 70%, and 44% average recycled content against 50%4.

Do the targets still apply after 2025?

APCO says the targets continue beyond 2025, with environment ministers' support, to keep benchmarking consistent. It also says a revised target date will be set, though none had been announced by 14 October 202634.

Were the targets legally binding?

No. They were voluntary goals delivered through the Covenant. The legally backed duties sat in the 2011 Used Packaging Materials Measure, which states enforce for brand owners above AUD 5 million turnover that stay outside the Covenant15.

Why was the recycled content target changed?

It was raised from 30% to 50% average recycled content in 2020, two years after the 2018 targets were set. National progress stood at 44% in both 2022-23 and 2023-24134.

How far did single-use plastics fall?

APCO reports a 46% reduction in priority problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic items from the 2017-18 baseline, measured in 2023-244. The figure for 2022-23 was a 40% reduction, so the fourth target moved by 6 points in a year3.

Glossary

Definitions

Brand owner
Under the Measure, includes trade mark owners and licensees, franchisees, the first seller of imported products and suppliers of in-store packaging (cl. 3(1))5.5
Consumer packaging
Packaging of any material for containing, protecting, marketing or handling consumer products, including distribution packaging (cl. 3(1))5.5
Free rider
A participant in the packaging chain that is not a Covenant signatory and is not producing equivalent outcomes (cl. 3(1))5.5
Sources

Sources for this analysis

  1. Parliament of Australia, Senate committee report No time to waste: Chapter 5, The need for stronger packaging reform Official · Consulted 14 October 2026
  2. Parliament of Australia: No time to waste, report and recommendations (April 2025) Official · Consulted 14 October 2026
  3. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation: Australia's National Packaging Targets Compliance scheme · Consulted 14 October 2026
  4. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation: National Packaging Targets Beyond 2025 Compliance scheme · Consulted 14 October 2026
  5. Federal Register of Legislation: National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011 (F2011L02093), as made Official · Consulted 14 October 2026

Written by the SPI team on 14 October 2026. Sources checked as of 14 October 2026. SPI analysis, not legal advice; always rely on the official text.

Audit trail

Change history

Verified: a second SPI team member re-checked every fact above against the source on 13 October 2026. Any later change to the facts sends the rule back to Sourced and is logged here.

  1. Verified by a second SPI team member

  2. Changed: SPI summary

  3. Added to the tracker

Spotted an error? Write to sales@strategicpackaginginsights.com quoting PR-AU-001 and the source. Corrections are logged in this history.

Other jurisdictions

Plan or strategy rules elsewhere

The same type of rule for the same materials in other jurisdictions, by the date it applies.

RuleWhereTypeMaterialsStatusApplies from
Roadmap for Waste Reduction by Producers (MoEF Regulation 75/2019)PR-ID-001IndonesiaPlan or strategyAll packagingIn force5 December 2019
PPWR: packaging waste reduction targets per capitaPR-EU-011European UnionPlan or strategyAll packagingAdopted, not yet applying–
France AGEC law: end of single-use plastic packaging by 2040PR-FR-001FrancePlan or strategySingle-use plasticIn force–

Every plan or strategy rule in the tracker

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