Big guns join battle against plastic

McDonald’s, Nestle and Unilever along with the Pact Group have all announced their ways of reducing plastic waste.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the National Plastics Summit at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Picture: AAP

Australia’s biggest brands are ­rallying to Scott Morrison’s calls to reduce plastic waste, with companies such as McDonald’s, Nestle and Unilever laying out plans on Monday to reduce use.

At the National Plastics Summit in Canberra, millions of dollars were dedicated to reducing plastic waste with Pact Group, the nat­ion’s largest rigid plastics producer, pledging $500m to invest in new facilities to ensure plastics at its company are reused.

Major companies are warning that a waste-free market will take a concerted effort from all players in the plastics sector.

The Prime Minister on Monday unveiled a plan to invest in new recycling infrastructure.

Shampoo giant Unilever welcomed the government’s plastics plan and recommitted to its plan to halve its use of virgin plastic.

Unilever Australia chief executive Clive Stiff said it would take time and effort for the entire sector to achieve a significant reduction in plastic waste.

“Creating a local market and demand for all types of recycled plastic is critical and heavy lifting is needed from all players involved: suppliers, packaging converters, brand owners, policymakers and retailers, collectors, sorters and recyclers,” Mr Stiff said.

Pact Group’s pledge would see 30 per cent recycled content across its product portfolio by 2025 and keep nearly two billion plastic containers out of landfill.

Other major plastics producers followed with their own plans to reduce waste.

Nestle Australia chief executive Susana Martinez announced on Monday a trial to collect soft plastics from kerbside collection at 100,000 Australian homes to divert it from landfill.

“We know soft plastics is an area that needs greater focus and collaboration,” she said.

“As Nestle plans to reduce our virgin plastic use and increase the amount of food-grade recycled plastic packaging we use, we need plastic to be collected.”

McDonald’s director of supply chain and sustainability Kylie Freeland also used the summit to announce the fast-food giant’s upcoming ban on single-use plastic cutlery, a year after phasing out plastic straws.

“We are continuing to reduce our environmental footprint and will be removing more than 860 tonnes of plastic from our system,” she said.

Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the plans would help create a “recycling economy”.

“This is where we take what are now seen as problems and turn them into assets that create re­manu­factured products, which create jobs and which grow our economy,” she said.