The Australian Beverages Council Limited and its members consider sustainability a top priority for our industry.

We advocate for better recycling outcomes at the state and federal level, sit on multiple national and international reference groups, and are a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). Through our Environmental Sustainability Roadmap to 2030 (ESR30), Beverages Industry Environmental Committee and the Packaging Reform & Resource Recovery Working Group, we help our members make more sustainable choices both in their packaging and greater operations.

Beverage companies put as much care into their packaging as they do their product, opting for materials that protect your beverage while optimising for resource recovery and recycling. We support policies that encourage better packaging design, support recovery and recycling of materials and reduce reliance on virgin materials. Initiatives such as participation in APCO, adoption of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) and funding and involvement in container deposit schemes (CDS) are ways in which our members work to be good product stewards through public education, resource recovery and design efficiency.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) of materials is the only proven and feasible way to scale packaging collection, recycling and reuse1. Our industry is proud to be ahead of the pack as stewards of container deposit schemes (CDS), the preeminent and most successful product stewardship program in Australia. Funded 100% by beverage manufacturers and suppliers, this funding supports container collection, sortation and recycling. In 2025, Australia became the first continent fully covered by CDS and the ABCL continues to be a leading voice for industry, advocating for evidence-based reforms that deliver improvements to the schemes.

A key challenge in Australia’s recycling landscape is the fragmented approach to kerbside collection. Currently, there is no national consistency on what can be recycled in your kerbside recycling bin, with this dependent on where you live and the services your council offers. This makes recycling confusing for consumers and contamination a significant challenge. These challenges make it difficult to extract food-grade materials from recycling centres, which ultimately results in this material being landfilled. To remedy this, and ensure this material can be used to remake into beverage packaging, the ABCL has strongly supported national harmonisation of kerbside recycling and endorses progress on the Kerbside Recycling Grading Framework.

The ABCL has been actively advocating for increased material recovery through improvements to CDS, a “caps collection” harmonised approach to CDS and kerbside recycling and opportunities to enhance Australia’s domestic recycling capabilities. Combine this recovery with the significant investments beverages companies have made to build material processing facilities throughout Australia and you have a domestic, circular economy solution that is better for people and the planet.