Towards Osaka Blue Ocean Vision - G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter

Australia

Actions and Progress on Marine Plastic Litter
Last Update : 2026/10/26

Policy Framework

National Action Plan

● Australia’s Circular Economy Framework (2024)
In December 2024, Australia’s Circular Economy Framework was released to provide the policy blueprint for Australia’s circular economy transition. This framework is the first time Australia has had a national policy which sets clear priorities and targets to keep materials in our economy for as long as possible, while reducing waste.
 
The overarching goal of ‘doubling the circularity of the economy by 2035’ is supported by 3 targets: reducing material footprint by 10 per cent; lifting materials productivity by 30 per cent; and safely recovering 80 per cent of our resources.
 
Achieving a circular economy will require coordinated efforts from all levels of government and across all sectors of the economy.

● National Waste Policy Action Plan (2024)
The National Waste Policy Action Plan guides Australia’s investment and national efforts to better manage waste and recover resources in support of a circular economy to 2030 and beyond. The plan includes seven ambitious targets that are supported through the delivery of actions by all Australian governments.

Two targets in the plan have a specific focus on addressing plastic waste exports (Target 1) and the phase out of problematic and unnecessary plastics (Target 5).

Australia’s environment ministers have established a roadmap to harmonise kerbside collection systems that sets out a minimum set of items that can be collected and recycled across the country. The roadmap provides national guiding principles to inform the inclusion of future items, including soft plastics, to the minimum lists through periodic reviews. This delivery of the roadmap will support Australia’s transition to a circular economy by reducing the volume of recyclable material that goes to landfill.

Legal Framework

● Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) lists injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or entanglement in, harmful marine debris as a key threatening process.
 
Australia’s Threat Abatement Plan for the impacts of marine debris on the vertebrate wildlife of Australia’s coasts and oceans incorporates actions needed to abate the listed key threatening process. The threat abatement plan includes a range of management approaches for research and monitoring, public outreach and education, preventing and reducing debris from land-based sources as well as addressing marine-based sources and removing accumulated marine debris from the coastal marine environment.

● Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 (RAWR Act)
➡ ● Recycling and Waste Reduction (Export—Waste Plastic) Rules 2021 (Waste Plastic Rules)
The RAWR Act provides a national framework to regulate the export of waste materials, and to manage their impact on the environment, and human health. Through subordinate legislation, the Act implements the export ban on unprocessed waste plastic, paper, glass, and tyres agreed by Commonwealth, state, and territory governments in March 2020.
 
The Waste Plastic Rules under the RAWR Act implement the ban on export of unprocessed waste plastic in two phases, through a licensing and declaration scheme. Phase 1 of the export ban was in place from 1 July 2021 until 30 June 2022. This required licence holders to sort plastic into a single polymer or resin prior to export for further processing, recycling, and re-manufacture. On 1 July 2022, phase 2 of the export ban commenced. This required licence holders to further process sorted waste in Australia prior to export, for example into flakes.
 
The Waste Plastic Rules help ensure that Australia takes responsibility for its plastic waste and promotes the development of our domestic recycling sector and circular economy. By ensuring we only export properly processed waste, we are preventing these materials from being dumped overseas, reducing harm to the environment and human health.

● Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 (Hazardous Waste Act)
Australia is a signatory to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Convention) and implements its obligations through the Hazardous Waste Act.
 
The Basel Convention was amended from 1 January 2021 to enhance controls on exports, imports and transboundary movement of waste plastics, so that impacts on human health and the environment are minimised. The amendments introduced a broad category of waste plastics that are to be subject to prior informed consent procedures, with certain exceptions.
 
The Hazardous Waste Act was amended in 2021 to incorporate the Basel Convention plastic amendments into Australian law. The Hazardous Waste Act operates in tandem with the RAWR Act to ensure the optimal environmental outcome in relation to waste plastics.

● National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011
Australia has national co-regulatory arrangements that requires businesses to make packaging more sustainable and reduce the impact of used packaging on the environment. The arrangement is made up of the industry-led Australian Packaging Covenant and the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011 (UPM NEPM). It requires businesses with an annual turnover of $5 million or more that produce or sell packaging and/or packaged products in Australia to either become a signatory to the Covenant or meet requirements put in place by states and territories to implement the UPM NEPM.
 
The Australian Government is committed to working collaboratively with industry, and state, territory and local governments to improve packaging regulation to support a circular economy for packaging. This includes considering mandatory requirements and targets so that businesses take more responsibility for their packaging.

● Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983; Marine Order 95 (Marine pollution prevention – garbage) 2018
Australia is a Party to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which among other things, prohibits the discharge of plastic into the sea. Australia implements its obligations through the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (POTS Act) and Marine Order 95 (Marine pollution prevention – garbage) 2018 (MO95).
 
Under the MARPOL vessels are also required to maintain records of all garbage that is generated and disposed by the vessel, including plastics, through a Garbage Management Plan and a Garbage Record Book.
 
Additionally, MARPOL obliges Member States ensure that adequate reception facilities are available in ports and terminals to receive all types of waste, including plastic, generated by a ship during normal operations.

Indicators and/or Targets

Plastic Product Flow
■ Manufactured
Indicators:
Targets (if any): 50% of average recycled content included in packaging

■ Recycled
Indicators:
Targets (if any): 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted

■ Others (please specify)
Indicators:
Targets (if any): 100% of packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable

Brief description:
Plastic recycling
The Australian Plastic Flows and Fates reporting shows Australia’s plastic consumption, flow, recovery, and recycling from 2000 to 2021/22.

Packaging targets
The National Packaging Targets have driven systemic change to how packaging is designed, collected, recovered, and reprocessed, and are increasing recovery rates. The diversity of plastic materials and rapid innovation in materials and formats to deliver functionality creates ongoing challenges for sortation and reprocessing systems.

 
The Australian Government is taking a range of actions on waste and recycling that will support industry to deliver the Targets, including:

  • providing funding under the Recycling Modernisation Fund to increase Australia’s onshore material processing infrastructure capacity
  • supporting state and territory governments to phase-out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics under the National Waste Policy Action Plan
  • supporting the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) as a world-leading educational tool to help households recycle correctly, including by providing $5 million to assist 20,000 small to medium enterprises improve packaging sustainability and labelling by adopting the ARL, and
  • providing funding to support the establishment of the Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre.

The Australian Government is committed to working collaboratively with industry, and state, territory and local governments to improve packaging regulation to support a circular economy for packaging. This includes considering mandatory requirements and targets so that businesses take more responsibility for their packaging.

● Australasian Recycling Label (ARL)
The Government supports the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) as a world-leading educational tool to help households recycle correctly. In 2024 over 350,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) carried the ARL, and in Australia and New Zealand this is a growth of 95,000 SKUs since 2023.

● Plastic Use and Pollution Reduction
The National Waste Policy Action Plan includes Target 5: Continued phase out of problematic and unnecessary plastics. State and territory governments lead on the phase-out of problematic and unnecessary plastics. In December 2024, Australian environment ministers agreed to release a summary of the National Roadmap: Harmonising action on problematic and unnecessary plastics.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) surveyed litter entering the environment near and around select major urban centres in Australia from 2022 to 2024. CSIRO found a 39 per cent reduction in plastic waste in coastal areas when the results were compared with earlier surveys. Further information is available at: Plastic pollution along Australian coastlines decreases by 39% - CSIRO.

● Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI)
The Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) provides high-quality data that is crucial for informing both national and global plastic pollution policies. AMDI’s standardised monitoring framework supports the National Plastics Plan (NPP) by offering evidence-based insights into debris trends, enabling the setting of measurable targets, evaluating policy interventions, and prioritising areas for action.
 
The AMDI Framework provides critical data for policy development, target setting, and evaluation at both national and international levels, strengthening Australia’s leadership in marine debris prevention and contributing to global efforts to combat plastic pollution.
 
The AMDI Land Sea Source Index
To determine the likely origins of debris for coastal monitoring sites, the AMDI Database categorises items according to the Land Sea Source Index (LSSI).
 
This index uses information about the site and the physical properties of the item (form, material, buoyancy, etc.) to calculate the proportions of debris that are likely to come from onshore and offshore sources.
 
For example, on Christmas Island, part of Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories, marine debris data from January - December 2024 reveals that (by item count) sea-based sources contributed the majority of debris, with 87% likely originating from the ocean, while only 13% came from land-based sources.

Technical Standards, Guidelines and Methodologies

Topics
■ Waste Management / Recycling ■ Other
Brief Description:
For ship-generated garbage, including plastics, AMSA publishes guidance on the AMSA website for MARPOL Annex V discharge requirements and Australia’s related legislative framework. This supports shipowners, masters and crews to understand garbage discharge restrictions, garbage management obligations onboard ships and related requirements in Australian waters. See section 6 of this page for links to this guidance.

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Measures

Measures across Value Chain
Actions for encouraging sustainable / circular product design (example: improved durability, reparability, recyclability, reduction of material use per product…etc.) Yes

Specific Measures:
Australia’s Circular Economy Framework provides national direction on transitioning towards a circular economy, including improving design and better collaboration across the supply chain. Further information on Australia’s Circular Economy Framework is provided in Question 2.
 
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions that promote sustainable design. Further information on National Waste Policy Action Plan is provided in Question 2.
 
The National Packaging Targets have driven systemic change to how packaging is designed, collected, recovered, and reprocessed, and are increasing recovery rates. Further information on Australia’s National Packaging Targets is provided in Question 2.
Policy actions for encouraging plastic alternatives, recycled materials at production stage. Yes

Specific Measures:　■ Use of Recycled Materials
Brief description:
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions that promote the use of recycled materials.
 
The National Packaging Targets have driven systemic change to how packaging is designed, collected, recovered, and reprocessed, and are increasing recovery rates. The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation reported that the average post-consumer recycled content in packaging in 2023-24 was 44%.
Steps taken towards restricting microplastics in/from products. Yes

Specific Measures:
Reduce single-use plastic (shopping bags, straws etc.) by regulations or voluntary measures (such as ban, levy, others) Yes

Policy Instruments Employed
■ Information Instruments　■ Other: Cross-Government Policy action plans

Brief description:
Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes a target to continue the phase out of problematic and unnecessary plastics. The Australian Government is supporting state and territory governments in this process. A roadmap to better harmonise action on these items was agreed by Australia’s Environment Ministers at the Environment Ministers Meeting in December 2024.
 The National Packaging Targets have driven systemic change to how packaging is designed, collected, recovered, and reprocessed, and are increasing recovery rates. National Packaging Target 4 is focused on phasing out problematic and unnecessary single use plastic packaging. The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation reported that problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging had reduced by 46% in 2023-24 from the 2017-18 baseline.
Introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) No

Specific Measures:

Targeted Products  
Brief Description

Product stewardship in Australia - DCCEEW Product stewardship schemes support the environmentally sound management of products and materials over their life. This includes at the end of their useful life. Product stewardship action may be voluntary, mandatory or shared with industry.
 
Examples of good product stewardship are when:

  • People recycle products, and their packaging
  • Companies design their products for easier recycling
  • Companies use more recycled materials and less resources to manufacture their products
  • Companies limit the hazardous materials their products contain.

No product stewardship arrangements are specifically targeted at addressing marine plastic litter.

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Improve waste management and recycling system Yes

Policy Instruments Employed
■ Economic/Financial Instruments
Specific Measures:
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions to improve waste manage and recycling systems.
 
The Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) is a national initiative that is expanding Australia’s capacity to sort, process and remanufacture glass, plastic, tyres, paper and cardboard. The Australian Government is investing $250 million in new and upgraded recycling infrastructure through the RMF. The Fund will see over $1 billion invested in recycling infrastructure, with contributions from the states and territories and industry.
Promoting plastic waste re-use, recycling and recovery opportunities Yes

Policy Instruments Employed
■ Economic/Financial Instruments　■ Support Voluntary Actions
 
Specific Measures:
The National Circular Economy Framework provides guidance on transitioning towards a circular economy, including the reuse and remanufacturing of secondary materials.
 
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions to promote the reuse of plastic waste, recycling and recovery.
 
The $60 million Plastics Technology (PT) stream is part of the Australian Government’s $250 commitment under the RMF. It is supporting more innovative and advanced recycling technologies targeting hard-to-recycle plastics to boost Australia’s plastics recycling rates.
 
In December 2023, the Australian Government released the National Framework for Recycled Content Traceability. The framework is a voluntary guideline that aims to improve trust in recycled content. It does this by guiding businesses along the supply chain to collect, share and verify recycled content information, including on their origin, composition and quality.
 
The Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy came into effect on 1 July 2024. The policy applies climate, environment and circularity principles to Australian Government procurements in 4 high impact categories: construction services over $7.5 million; furniture, fittings and equipment; ICT goods; and textiles, all over $1 million. The policy requires reporting against key metrics, including amount of recycled content, and will allow a baseline and targets to be set in future.
 
Australia is also creating the voluntary 'ReMade in Australia' scheme. The scheme will feature a recognisable logo for certified 'remade' products. This logo will help consumers identify Australian made products with recycled content. The scheme aims to increase the use and production of recycled materials.
 
The Australian Government supports the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation’s work with industry to deliver the National Packaging Targets, including priority projects to promote plastic re-use, recycling and recovery and the use of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL).
Install capturing trap/filter on drainage/river Yes

Specific Measures:
Australia’s Urban Rivers and Catchments Program is restoring the health of our urban waterways for native plants, animals, and local communities.
 
Projects funded by the program are helping conserve native plants and animals including platypus, waterbirds, turtles and fish. They are also improving the quality of waterways which provide for public health and social wellbeing.
 
The program is funding projects including, but not limited to the installation of litter and pollutant traps to prevent stormwater-borne plastics from entering aquatic and marine ecosystems.
Conduct clean-up activities in rivers/ wetlands/ beaches/ coasts/ coral reefs/ sea floor, involving local communities Yes

Specific Measures:
Additionally, the Plastic Free Beaches initiative worked with businesses in eight identified geographic areas to phase out problematic single use plastics. The selected areas disproportionately contribute to marine plastic litter (e.g. high visitor numbers, density of retail and food outlets offering single use plastic items, proximity to the coast or waterways through which plastic pollution is transported).
 
ReefClean
ReefClean was originally a five-year program (2019–2023) funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust. In 2023, Tangaroa Blue Foundation secured the Great Barrier Reef Marine Debris Management and Mitigation Grant, through Reef Trust. This new grant provides $3.5 million in funding from January 2024 to March 2027, ensuring the continued growth and expansion of the program, which delivers actions that:

  • Reduce the volume of marine debris generated in or entering the GBR.
  • Increase marine debris awareness in catchment communities and provide actions they can take to prevent litter from entering Reef waterways.

 
Since 2019 more than 15,510 volunteers from 400 organisations have removed 138.5 tonnes of debris from the GBR. 170 microplastic surveys were conducted across 44 sites following Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) methodology.
 
Clean-up data were entered into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database and used to design and implement source reduction plans (SRPs) to target specific debris items (79 rolled out since 2019). Collectively, these efforts highlight the substantial impact of the ReefClean project, illustrating a committed and comprehensive approach to preserving the Great Barrier Reef for future generations.

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Issue-specific Measures
＜1＞ Abandoned, Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG)
Taken/to be taken National Level Action and/or Community Level Action on Clean sea initiatives including ghost net retrieval, ocean-bound plastics etc. Yes

Specific Measures:
The Ghost Nets and Marine Debris Initiative
The Australian Government has announced a new $25 million program to follow on from the highly successful Ghost Nets Initiative ($14.8 million, 2021-2025). The new program, known as the Ghost Nets and Marine Debris Initiative (2025-26 to 2028-29),
This revised extends and expands on the achievements of the previous initiative using technology, Indigenous knowledge and strategic partnerships to continue to tackle the issue of ghost nets and marine debris in the waters and coastlines across northern Australia.

The new initiative will have two major components: A domestic component ($20.6 million) with a focus on:

  • Expanding Indigenous organisations' marine debris removal program
  • In-water retrievals with government and private partners, technology-driven marine debris detection
  • Recycling opportunities in remote regional hubs

An international component ($4.5 million) with a focus on collaboration with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, through the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action program, to prevent ghost nets from entering the shared Arafura and Timor Seas.
Taken actions to prevent abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) being generated. Yes

Specific Measures:
Australia’s implementation of MARPOL Annex V supports ALDFG prevention by prohibiting the discharge of plastics and regulating ship-generated garbage, including fishing gear, and by requiring garbage management and adequate port reception facilities.
Created/creating collection/recycling mechanism for ALDFG Yes

Specific Measures:
The Ghost Nets Initiative has supported projects investigating recycling pathways and technologies for remote communities collecting ghost nets and marine debris. Trials are underway looking at recycling technologies that may be used including pyrolysis and remanufacturing into green ceramics and composite materials for local construction uses.
＜2＞ Port Waste Reception
For waste management in ports, please provide details regarding their solid waste management practices/facilities including:
Whether there is an applicable legal framework Yes

Brief Description:
Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (domestic implementing legislation for MARPOL)
Australia monitors how ships process and dispose of garbage, including plastic waste through AMSAs risk-based Port State Control (PSC) inspection program, conducting over 3000 PSC inspections each year. PSC verifies that ships are meeting their MARPOL requirements for waste management, recording and disposal.
The institution(s) responsible for (or playing a central role in, if voluntary action) managing the waste from ships? (example: port management authority, fishers' association...etc.) Yes

Brief Description:
Australian Maritime Safety Authority, and MOU with Tangaroa Blue
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) holds an MOU with Tangaroa Blue, a non-government organisation that coordinates the Australian Marine Debris Initiative. AMSA works in partnership with Tangaroa Blue to enhance Australia’s capability to meet MARPOL garbage management obligations and help identify and address any gaps in our regulatory framework, including the proper disposal of plastic waste from ships to prevent marine debris.
Whether ports possess waste reception facilities/systems to handle solid waste from ships, the volume of waste collected and the percentage of ports with waste reception facilities? -

Brief Description:
See PoTS Act and MO95 information under section 2.2. In addition, AMSA, on behalf of Australia, records port reception facility information in the International Maritime Organization’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System’s Port Reception Facility Database, which is the mechanism used by port States to communicate and maintain information on the availability, location, capacity and characteristics of reception facilities, and to support visibility of any reported inadequacies and follow-up action.

The handling procedures for each distinct waste stream once onshore. -

Brief Description:
International vessel generated waste intended for recycling in Australia must be cleaned, segregated and securely stored on ISPM15 compliant pallets on board the vessel prior to arrival. Compliant waste is released from biosecurity control into the domestic waste recycling stream and non-compliant, contaminated waste is regulated as biosecurity waste.
 
Onshore processes may vary between states and territories however, clean paper, cardboard, glass, plastic packaging, kitchen metals, cans and aluminium cans are inspected by biosecurity officers, released from biosecurity control and transported to a commercial material recovery facility for recycling.
Food waste and contaminated recyclable material remain regulated and is disposed of as per Australia’s biosecurity requirements.

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Partnership and Innovation
Boost multi-stakeholder involvement/engagement Yes

Specific Measures:
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions to improve consumer awareness and support business and industry.
 
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation as the industry scheme administrator under the co-regulatory packaging system delivers education, guidance, tools and events to promote sector wide engagement, awareness and action on sustainable packaging.
Encourage/ Incentivize action by the private sector to reduce/ sustainably manage their plastic waste. Yes

Specific Measures:
Implementation of Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan includes actions to support businesses to avoid waste and encourage innovation.
 
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation supports brand owners and manufacturers, to reduce and sustainably manage packaging (including plastic packaging) through a range of member initiatives including design guidance and recognition.
 
The Australian Government’s Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy applies climate, environment and circularity principles to Australian Government procurements in 4 high impact categories: construction services over $7.5 million; furniture, fittings and equipment; ICT goods; and textiles, all over $1 million. The policy requires suppliers who contract with the government to report against key metrics, including amount of recycled content, and will allow a baseline and targets to be set in future.
 
Australia is also creating the voluntary 'ReMade in Australia' scheme. The scheme will feature a recognisable logo for certified 'remade' products. This logo will help consumers identify Australian made products with recycled content. The scheme aims to increase the use and production of recycled materials.
Encourage/ Incentivize action by local governments and/or communities to reduce/ sustainably manage their plastic waste. Yes

Specific Measures:
The Australian Government is committed to working collaboratively with industry, and state, territory and local governments to improve packaging regulation to support a circular economy for packaging. This includes considering mandatory requirements and targets so that businesses take more responsibility for their packaging.
 
The National Waste Policy Action Plan includes Target 5: Continued phase out of problematic and unnecessary plastics. State and territory governments lead on the phase-out of problematic and unnecessary plastics. In December 2024, Australian environment ministers agreed to release a summary of the National Roadmap: Harmonising action on problematic and unnecessary plastics.
Monitoring, Data Management, Understanding Flow of Plastics/MPL
Conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of plastic products. What are the challenges if LCA is not conducted? Yes

Scope: ■ National
Brief Description:
LCAs are being conducted by states and territories for selected plastic products being considered for regulatory action.

Conduct Material Flow Analysis (MFA) on plastics. What are the challenges if MFA is not conducted? Yes

Scope: ■ National　
Brief Description:
The annual Australian Plastic Flows and Fates reporting shows Australia’s plastic consumption, flow, recovery, and recycling from 2000 to 2021 22.
Conduct monitoring / estimation / scientific research on leakage of plastics/microplastics to the natural environment and/or flow of ocean surface. What are the challenges if these actions are not conducted? No

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Challenges

■ Recycling System Improvement
■ Data Collection Related to Waste in General
■ Public awareness and behavioral change

■ Data Collection Related to Waste in General
States and territories collect data in various formats and parameters, based on their Environment Protection Agency (EPA). Data sharing is limited due to confidentiality and can be difficult to aggregate at a national level.
 
Progress underway to streamline data collection with the use of reporting standards, and improve data sharing between the various levels of government (Local, State/Territory/Commonwealth).

■ Recycling System Improvement
Limited recycling capacity to manage problematic hard to recycle materials like soft plastics.
While there has been significant recent investment in reprocessing capacity, capacity shortages remain for some materials, including where low volumes make reprocessing unviable.
 
The Australian Government is committed to working collaboratively with industry, and state, territory and local governments to improve packaging regulation to support a circular economy for packaging.
This Strengthened regulation provides an opportunity to ensure plastic packaging is designed for circularity and encourage the uptake of recycled content, reducing reliance on virgin materials. It will drive industry investment, minimise waste, and support circular economy outcomes for plastic packaging including soft plastics packaging.
 
To boost plastic recycling rates, the government committed additional funding to the Recycling Modernisation Fund for hard to recycle plastics.

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International Cooperation

International Cooperation
Participate in international cooperation through international organizations, multi-national groups, etc. Yes

International conventions or legal frameworks
■ MARPOL Annex V, ■ the Basel Convention

Global policy or negotiation processes
■ UNEA, ■ Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC),

Regional cooperation mechanisms
■ APEC-OFWG ■SPREP　

Political coalition, multi-stakeholder partnership, or voluntary initiative
■ The Ocean Panel ■ IMO Ocean Litter Program,

Brief Description, if any:

Australia is an active participant through multilateral organisations and forums such as the WTO, G20, UNEP, IPBES, IUCN, IMO and more.
 
Australian Marine Debris Initiative data
On an international scale, AMDI data contributes to Australia’s commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 14.1 to reduce marine pollution, and supports Australia’s role in the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution. The data also informs the development of the International Plastics Treaty by identifying cross-border sources of marine litter and contributing to global strategies.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution
Australia is one of over 180 countries in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) working together to develop a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (treaty). , Through the negotiations, Australia is seeking globally coordinated action to address plastic pollution , while advancing regional priorities. Australia is part of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, which includes over 70 other members, and seeks for the treaty to contain effective interventions across the full lifecycle of plastic.

World Trade Organization Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade
Australia is one of six co-facilitators of the WTO’s Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP), a plurilateral initiative to promote the transition to more environmentally sustainable trade in plastics. The DPP has developed several workstreams for progressing its work. Topics being examined as part of these workstreams include statistical approaches to estimating trade flows of plastic, mapping approaches to regulating single use plastic, consideration of trade related plastics measures and improving trade transparency.

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Participated in international cooperation project/programme on MPL/plastic pollution. -

● Project/Programme 1

  • Project/programme name: Pacific Ocean Litter Project
  • Cooperation Type: ■ Multilateral
  • Main Role(s) of Our Country
    ■ Technical Assistance Provider　■ Joint Cooperation Partner
  • Target country/region: Oceania
  • Implementation period: 2019-2027
  • Status: ■ Ongoing

Brief description:
The Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP) is a $16 million Australian Government funded project (2019–2027), delivered by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). POLP is working to reduce marine plastic litter in the coastal environments of Pacific island countries.

The project focuses on actions to refuse, reduce and replace single-use plastics, including plastic bottles and bags, take-away food containers, cutlery, and straws.

POLP is supporting Pacific island countries to:

  • Develop and adopt legislation, policies and practical strategies to reduce single-use plastics
  • Increase consumer awareness and encourage use of alternatives to single-use plastics
  • Target measures to reduce single-use plastics by sectors and businesses
  • Identify and support sustainable alternative products.

POLP is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian Aid Program, and administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Weblink: The Pacific Ocean Litter Project

● Project/Programme 2

  • Project/programme name: Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) Program
  • Cooperation Type: ■ Bilateral
  • Main Role(s) of Our Country
    ■ Joint Cooperation Partner
  • Target country/region: Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea
  • Implementation period: 2024-2029
  • Status: ■ Ongoing

Brief description:
Australia is working with our nearest neighbours – Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea – through the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) program to address the issue of ghost nets entering our shared waters.
 
At total of $5.9 million is committed to the ATSEA secretariat from 2024 to 2029 including
$4.5 million from Parks Australia’s Ghost Nets and Marine Debris Initiative (2025-26 to 2028-29).

Funding will strengthen coordinated action through:

  • Development of a Ghost Nets Regional Action Plan to coordinate efforts
  • Implementation of targeted on-ground actions that reduce the loss, abandonment or careless discarding of nets
  • Design and implementation of a dedicated monitoring program to improve our understanding of net origins, identify priority sites for on-ground action and assess effectiveness of interventions.

Weblink: Marine Plastic & ALDFG - ATSEA

Best Practices

Private Sector Initiative
Description:
Briefly Describe:
・ The main action and issue addressed:
・ The main result or evidence of effectiveness, if available; and
・ Whether the practice may be replicable elsewhere.

The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is a world-leading consumer education tool which helps households recycle and assists brand owners to design recyclable packaging. The Australian Government has invested $5 million to support small-to-medium enterprises to implement the ARL on their packaging, in turn giving households greater guidance on how to recycle and keeping more plastics out of landfill. In 2024 over 350,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) carried the ARL.

Official web link or source, if available: Australasian Recycling Label

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Contact Details

Name: Fleur Downard
Position: Director, International Environment and UN section
Division: International Environment, Reef and Ocean division
Organization: Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Email:Fleur.Downard@dcceew.gov.au

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