Australia Post’s big change to parcels to use recycled plastic

Australia Post is making a change to its satchel packaging range as the organisation is set to break a new record on deliveries.

AUSTRALIA Post is moving towards the full use of recycled plastics in its satchel packaging range as the organisation hits its busiest ever month for deliveries.

Last December the organisation shipped 52 million parcels, but with 2.5 million parcels currently being delivered every day, and the daily tally expected to grow to 3 million next week, the 2021 record is set to be smashed.

That adds up to a lot of cardboard boxes, mailing tubes and soft pouches, but the good news is all of the more than 200 plastic satchels in the Australia Post range will now be made with some recycled material.

The organisation’s Chief Sustainability Officer Susan Mizrahi said the move “wasn’t simple to bring about”, but customers would not be paying extra for the new products, which were all field-tested to make sure they could cope with the rigours of normal delivery operations.

The majority of satchels in the range would now contain 80 per cent recycled plastic, she said, although the actual proportion depended on the individual product.

Ms Mizrahi said the massive growth in e-commerce had spurred on increasing consumer demand for sustainable packaging. November was another record month for online shopping in Australia, with sales growing 13 per cent year on year.

“(People are) seeing satchels and boxes pile up in their own homes … and consumers are paying more attention these matters,” Ms Mizrahi said.

Susan Mizrahi, Sustainability Manager for Australia Post. Picture: Supplied

The switch to the use of recycled plastic in Australia Post’s satchel range is just one of several environmental initiatives the organisation has introduced this year. It also debuted a range of re-usable plastic satchels, introduced REDcycle soft plastic recycling boxes in a number of stores and took delivery of its first three electric-powered delivery trucks, with 17 more on the way in the new year. Australia Post now has the largest electric fleet in the country, with more than 3500 electric vehicles and bikes.

New international research suggests that contrary to reports Australia is a climate laggard, everyday Australians actually have a higher degree of interest in sustainability issues than people in many other countries.

Global statistics platform Dynata surveyed more than 1000 people in each of a dozen countries, including Australia, and found Aussies had a higher preparedness to spend more money on sustainable products than the global average, and were more likely to avoid purchasing from companies with poor environmental records.

Australians were also more likely to purchase green energy and carbon offsets than the global average, the Dynata study found.

Originally published as Australia Post’s big change to parcels to use recycled plastic