The Hon Trevor Evans MP, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management officially opened the first meeting of the Collective Action Group (CAG) in Melbourne on 25 June.

The CAG team comprises 12 leading representatives from across the supply chain and government, charged with overseeing the progress of Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets.

The 2025 targets were launched by government and industry in 2018, providing a clear mandate to deliver a new sustainable pathway for packaging in Australia. The CAG’s role is to work with Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) to oversee the development of a systemic model for how Australia can deliver the 2025 targets.

The primary task for the CAG in 2019 is to develop a white paper setting out the roadmap for all stakeholders and identifying the critical interventions required to successfully transition Australia to a circular economy for packaging.

The CAG brings together representatives from the resource recovery, community, government, packaging, retail and manufacturing sectors to tackle Australia’s packaging waste challenges. Along with Pact Group, organisations include Coles, David Jones and Country Road Group, Nestle, Coca-Cola Amatil, EY, Planet Ark, Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR), Suez, Visy, the Department of Environment and Science (QLD) and the Department of Environment and Energy (full participant list below).

Brooke Donnelly, CEO of APCO, the agency leading the delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets commented: “The formation of the CAG is an exciting milestone in our work towards delivering the targets and it’s fantastic to bring together such a prestigious group of leaders for the task.

“The 2025 National Packaging Targets are some of the most ambitious and decisive environmental targets to be supported in Australia and their delivery requires collaboration from across industry. We applaud all CAG participants and their leading organisations for stepping up as key players in the global movement to create sustainable packaging solutions that drive accountability, transparency and shared value for consumers, industry and government”.

Over the next 12 months, APCO will be delivering an extensive program of projects to drive the delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets. These will be facilitated by a team of APCO Working Groups, comprising nearly 100 participants from industry and government across Australia which will in turn provide analysis and resources to the overarching CAG.

Collective Action Group members include:
• Raphael Geminder, Chairman at Pact Group Holdings
• Jeff Maguire, Group Head of CDS Implementation and Packaging Sustainability, Coca-Cola Amatil
• Margaret Stuart, Head of Corporate and External Relations, Nestlé Oceania
• Richard Macchiesi, General Manager – Insights and Innovation – Visy
• Fiona Baxter, Group Manager Responsible Sourcing, Coles
• Lok-Man Shu, Regional Environment Manager, David Jones and Country Road Group
• Louise Vickery, Assistant Secretary, Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy
• Kylie Hughes, Director Waste Policy and Legislation, Department of Environment and Science QLD
• Terence Jeyretnam, Partner, Climate Change & Sustainability, EY
• Paul Klymenko, CEO, Planet Ark
• Peter Shmigel, CEO, Australian Council of Recycling
• Justin Frank, Director, Marketing, Communications and Key Accounts, SUEZ Australia & New Zealand
• Anne Astin, Independent Director, APCO – Chair of CAG
• Brooke Donnelly, CEO, APCO – CAG Secretariat
• Helen Lewis, Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures – CAG Secretariat