With Australia to join a global coalition aiming to end plastic pollution by 2040, our forest industries are in the box seat to help pivot towards sustainable wood fibre-based packaging to replace plastics, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Victor Violante said today.
Federal Minister for the Environment and Water the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP announced today that Australia will join the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution - that has set the ambitious goal of ending plastic pollution by 2040.
Victor Violante welcomed the Federal Government signing up to the pledge and said Australia's world-class paper, fibre packaging and bioproducts industries are already leading the way to a more sustainable future with environmentally sensitive alternatives to fossil-fuel based plastics.
"Growing trees sequesters carbon from the atmosphere - in fact production trees continue to be the best, most efficient and only commercially-viable approach to do this at the scale we need to achieve a circular economy," Victor Violante said.
"Our opportunity is to use the fibre resource in as many ways as possible to add value and solve complex challenges such as plastic pollution in the environment.
"Fibre-based products are already replacing single-use and problematic plastics in our supply chains, supermarkets, homes, cafes and more. Paper and cardboard already has the highest rates of recovery and recycling of any material.
"Accelerating the circular economy means thinking through about where materials come from, how they are used and what happens at the end of life. Sustainability, renewability, recyclability and biodegradability are hard-wired into Australia's paper and fibre-packaging products.
"We applaud the Government for this commitment and look forward to working with them on the critical role local fibre manufacturers will play to deliver this goal," Victor Violante concluded.
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