A new education program aims to educate 20,000 small businesses about the benefits of using the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) and adopting more sustainable packaging.
The ARL is an “on-pack label” that has easy-to-understand instructions about how to correctly dispose of all parts of a product’s packaging, making it easier for households to recycle.
The scheme is led by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (Apco) in collaboration with the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), the National Retail Association (NRA) and the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP).
Chris Foley, CEO of Apco, said sustainability is an “important issue” for small businesses, and getting started can be difficult.
“Through this campaign, we provide the tools and resources Australia’s small businesses need to start improving the sustainability of their packaging today. By helping them get the ARL on-pack, this campaign can provide a powerful step forward in Australia’s collective journey towards a more sustainable and circular packaging future.”
Tanya Barden, CEO of AFGC, said the tool helps consumers recycle packaging “the right way” and create a clean stream of material ready for recycling into new products.
“Australian food and grocery manufacturers have already put the ARL on thousands of products and the AFGC encourages all companies to take part in the program.”
A new educational hub called the ARL Marketplace has also been launched to help businesses learn from resources and information about ARL and packaging sustainability.
The federal government provided grant funding for the project to help support SMEs to improve the sustainability of their packaging
