Australia's first Unpackit Awards, run by the Australian Marine Conservation Society, WWF-Australia and the Plastic Free Foundation, set out to name and shame the country's worst packaging, and celebrate the packaging actually solving something. I sat on the judging panel, so I've seen the shortlist up close.
The worst offender: the 'franken-can'
Top dishonours went to the plastic-and-metal "franken-can", a single-use hybrid jar with a welded aluminium top used by cafes for cold drinks like matcha and iced coffee. AMCS's Cip Hamilton didn't hold back, describing them as made for single use, built for on-the-go consumption, likely to end up as street litter, not accepted by container refund schemes, and almost impossible to recycle.
Other dishonourable mentions
Coles, Woolworths and Aldi were called out for plastic-netted avocados that shed microplastics, Mentos copped criticism for individually wrapped mints creating street litter, and Kmart's Anko brand was flagged for dumbbells wrapped piece by piece in excess plastic.
The packaging that actually got it right
Best packaging went to The Udder Way for its refillable 18-litre milk kegs used by baristas, which have replaced an estimated 4.5 million single-use bottles and 245,000-plus kilograms of plastic waste since 2021. Bearhug's reusable pallet wrap system and Cercle's reusable steel coffee cups, which have eliminated more than 1.5 million disposable cups, both picked up honourable mentions.
Read the full story from ABC News, 3 June 2026.
Related reading: The Plastic-Free Bathroom, Shelf by Shelf and Is 'Natural' Just Greenwashing? How to Actually Check.
After judging the worst packaging in the country, home-compostable doesn't feel like a marketing line anymore, it feels like it should be the standard!