An oil crisis most of us felt at the bowser has also reignited a much older argument in Canberra, whether Australia needs a levy on plastic packaging to fund proper recycling infrastructure.
Why now
With crude oil prices disrupted, government and industry are looking again at reducing Australia's reliance on imported, oil-derived plastic packaging. A proposed producer levy would fund recycling infrastructure and build demand for recycled material domestically. Nothing like a supply shock to make a decade-old idea suddenly urgent again.
The numbers behind the push
Only around 20 per cent of plastic packaging in Australia gets recycled, compared to roughly 65 per cent for glass and cardboard. The plastic recycling rate has been stuck at about 12.5 per cent for a decade, a genuinely impressive feat of standing still, despite a $200 million government investment in recycling facility upgrades that's currently running at only half capacity.
What the levy could actually change
Modelling suggests the scheme could see an extra 370,000 tonnes of plastic recycled annually, around a quarter of all plastic packaging used in Australia, for an estimated 30 cents a week on the average grocery bill. Not a bad trade for a quarter of the country's plastic problem.
The industry's warning
Gayle Sloan, who heads the waste management industry association, put it bluntly: continuing business-as-usual leaves Australia vulnerable, and building a strong domestic recycled materials market "is no longer optional, it is essential". Recycling council chief Suzanne Toumbourou has warned that if any part of the chain fails, the circular economy hits a dead end.
Read the full story from ABC News, 27 March 2026.
Related reading: Why We Chose Home-Compostable Over Recyclable Packaging and Compostable vs Recyclable vs Biodegradable.
Thirty cents a week to recycle an extra quarter of the country's plastic. That's such a good trade the only surprise is it took an oil crisis to get everyone talking about it again.