More work was needed before a second National Packaging Covenant (NPC) could gain general support from Local Government, Australian Local Government Association President, Councillor Paul Bell, said last month.
The nation’s environment ministers are considering a replacement for the first five year covenant. Ministers want to see targets incorporated into a second covenant to make it more effective.
However, Councillor Bell said the Meinhardt report, commissioned by ALGA, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Local Government Association of Queensland, found serious deficiencies with the first covenant. Local Government wants to see more emphasis placed on extended producer responsibility.
Councillor Bell said the ALGA will consider a new covenant once a detailed proposal has been developed.
“Whatever the achievements of the first covenant may be, the fact remains that vast quantities of waste continue to stream into our landfills, large amounts of unnecessary and non recyclable packaging are still used by industry, and Councils and ratepayers continue to bear the brunt of the cost of the nation’s recycling efforts,” he said.
