New “Unpackit Awards” highlight the best and worst players in Australia’s growing plastic waste crisis

The inaugural “Unpackit Awards” just launched by key environmental organisations show the leaders and laggards of Australia’s mounting plastic pollution crisis. Australia is the second highest generator of single-use plastic waste per person in the world using a staggering 147kg of plastic per person per year.

Launched by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), WWF and the Plastic Free Foundation, the awards expose those stepping up to find solutions and those perpetuating the problem of the growing tons of plastic wrapping, trays and single-use containers that pass all too quickly through Australian homes and often ends up in landfill or our oceans.

The Unpackit Award for Australia’s Best Packaging went to The Udder Way refillable milk kegs that have slashed the need for 4.5 million single-use plastic milk bottles since 2021. The 18-litre milk keg works like a beer keg, allowing baristas to draw milk straight from the keg. Once the keg is empty, it’s sent back to the dairy to get cleaned, refilled and returned. It’s now being rolled out in some supermarkets so customers can refill their own reusable milk bottles.

The Worst Packaging Award went to the latest trendy drinking vessel – a plastic/metal hybrid “can” that cafes are using to serve iced drinks, what eco groups call “the franken-child of a pot plant and a beer can.” The “can” is made with a thick plastic cup topped with an aluminium lid welded on, making it disposable after a single use and not acceptable for container refund schemes and not easily recycled.

The awards, announced in Canberra after hundreds of public nominations were reviewed by an expert panel, aim to highlight both wasteful packaging and practical alternatives at a time when Australia is grappling with an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of plastic packaging each year. Packaging accounts for roughly 60% of litter collected across the country, according to campaign organisers, who argue that voluntary industry commitments have failed to stem the tide of unnecessary plastic.

Among the companies publicly criticised were Kmart, whose Anko dumbbell set was cited for individually wrapping each weight in plastic before placing them inside a plastic carry case, and supermarket chains Coles Group, Woolworths Group and ALDI, which received dishonourable mentions for selling avocados in plastic netting that campaigners say sheds microplastics. Mentos was also criticised for individually wrapped mints that frequently end up as litter. Retailers defended some packaging as necessary to protect food quality and reduce waste, while ALDI says most of its exclusive-brand packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable.

If the awards sought to shame wasteful packaging, they also showcased what organisers believe is possible. In addition to The Udder Way, honourable mentions went to Bearhug, whose reusable pallet wraps replace hundreds of kilograms of plastic film over their lifetime, and Cercle, which says its reusable coffee cup system has displaced more than 1.5 million disposable cups.

The campaign is also becoming a political one. Environmental groups are urging the Albanese government to follow through on its 2022 commitment to introduce mandatory national packaging laws, including an extended producer responsibility scheme that would require manufacturers to take responsibility for the full life cycle of their packaging. State governments have begun banning some problematic products, including the plastic "franken-can" in Western Australia, but campaigners argue a patchwork of state rules cannot keep pace with new forms of disposable packaging entering the market.

More than 50 Australian organisations are working together to address Australia’s growing plastic problem through the Boomerang Alliance, including AMCS, Friends of the Earth, Green Music Australia and the Total Environment Centre. Others, including the Tear Fund, work internationally to address the growing plastic problem and challenges for waste pickers in countries such as Brazil and the Philippines.

Find out more and support their work here.