National Packaging Reform Now Has a Deadline

Last Friday, Australia's Environment Ministers met in Canberra for their first meeting of 2026. The agenda covered reforms to environmental laws, progress toward the 30x30 biodiversity target, and the advancement of a circular economy. Alongside batteries and solar panels, national packaging reform featured as a priority for product stewardship action.

This is big.

Ministers from Australian state, territory, and local governments confirmed their commitment to reforming national packaging regulation and Australia's circular economy legislative framework.

They tasked officials to return to the next Environment Ministers' Meeting with a draft intergovernmental agreement to deliver options for nationally consistent product stewardship arrangements.

Having a clear mandate, direction, and deadline like this is a significant development.

Why this matters

For too long, packaging regulation in Australia has been fragmented across jurisdictions, creating complexity for businesses and limiting progress on waste reduction and resource recovery. A nationally consistent approach to packaging product stewardship would lift productivity, reduce our dependency on imported materials, create stable markets for domestically recycled materials, and build more resilient supply chains here at home - especially in light of the Iran War.

The communique also recognised that these reforms need to account for economic impacts, which is exactly the kind of rigorous, balanced approach that will give industry the confidence to invest for the long term.

The work behind this outcome

At Phantm, we've spent months working alongside federal and state environment ministers, independent MPs, and a wide coalition of industry and NGO stakeholders to help build the case for a single, mandatory, national Extended Producer Responsibility scheme covering all packaging materials. That work has included independent economic modelling, detailed policy briefs, and direct engagement with the people shaping this legislation at every level of government.

We've done this because we believe the evidence is clear: a cohesive national framework is good for industry, good for the environment, and good for Australia's long-term economic resilience.

Seeing packaging reform elevated alongside batteries and solar in the ministerial communique is a testament to the collective effort of everyone involved in this advocacy, from environmental organisations and industry leaders to the ministers and officials who are now driving this forward.

What comes next

This is a great step forward, but there is so much more work to do. Officials across all jurisdictions now have a mandate to develop a draft intergovernmental agreement ahead of the next meeting. That process will require continued collaboration between government, industry, and civil society to get the design right.

We'll continue working with our partners to support this process, contributing the evidence, modelling, and practical expertise that come from helping businesses navigate packaging compliance every day.

The direction is set, the momentum is building up steam, and Phantm, just like our customers, is regulation ready.