Welcome to ARC. Championing a stronger, unified retail industry. Become a member
New report: Designing Effective Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes. Read more
Upcoming workshop: WHS Incident Response and Notifiable Events: What PCBUs Must Do. Register now
ARC Retail Awards 2026 winners have been announced! View winners
Sign in

Popular Keywords

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
ARC Home Designing effective Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes

Industry insights & reports

Designing Effective Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes

July 2026  | Australian Retail Council in partnership with Baringa

About the report
Login to download the report

Released at this week’s ARC Sustainability lunch in Melbourne, and developed in consultation with members, the report explores what role, if any, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme could play in Australia’s packaging policy.

What is an EPR scheme? It’s a policy approach that holds manufacturers, importers, and brand owners accountable for a product’s lifecycle, shifting waste management and recycling outcomes to the commercial producers. These schemes are already significant globally and under consideration within Australia. The report examines global lessons from EPR schemes to identify what drives success and considers the implications in an Australian retail context. Importantly, it also explores complementary tools to an EPR.

The central message of Designing Effective EPR Schemes is that, if an EPR scheme is pursued, it must be nationally consistent, focused on outcomes and implemented progressively without creating an excessive burden on retailers.

There’s no doubt that in Australia, retailers need greater clarity about the direction of packaging reform, the future of product stewardship and EPR, and how governments intend to translate circular-economy ambition into workable national policy.

In the months ahead, ARC will engage with Federal and State governments to ensure the retail sector’s interests in these areas are well understood.

About this report

This independent report was developed by Baringa in collaboration with ARC, drawing on feedback from retailers and value-chain operators across Australia. This report asks: What role, if any, should Extended Producer Responsibility play in Australia’s packaging policy and, where producer responsibility is justified, how could it be designed to improve circularity without disproportionate cost, complexity, whole-of-life impacts, or competitiveness effects?

The report does not presume that EPR is the preferred policy response. It identifies where EPR may add value, where other instruments may be more effective, what foundations can be developed now, and the tests that any future scheme should pass.

Retailers and consumers across Australia are navigating the packaging challenge and embracing their role in reducing their environmental impacts.

Why this matters

Circular-economy initiatives matter to the retail community, and packaging is a particular focus. In ARC’s Retail Priorities 2026 survey, respondents identified improving sustainable packaging as one of their leading sustainability priorities, ranking it alongside reducing energy costs.

Across Australia and internationally, retailers are being challenged to reconsider how products and packaging are designed, sourced, transported, consumed and ultimately recovered — all while managing intense pressure on operating costs, competitiveness and affordability, and while consumers remain acutely focused on cost-of-living pressures.

That makes this much more than an environmental discussion. The challenge is to make circularity commercially viable, operationally practical and genuinely valuable to customers — not simply another layer of costly compliance. Whatever policy framework emerges must be nationally consistent, apply fairly across the market, and deliver a measurable environmental benefit.

Read more
Login to download the report
Register to download the report

The numbers at a glance

New Roy Morgan research, commissioned by ARC, highlights the balance that needs to be struck between price, quality and sustainability.
0 %

of shoppers rank price and quality as their top purchasing considerations

0 %

research and seek out environmentally friendly brands

0 %

paid more for an environmentally friendly product in the past six months

0 in 5

say governments should invest more in recycling

Note: figures cited are drawn from ARC’s Retail Priorities 2026 survey, Roy Morgan research commissioned by ARC, and the Baringa report developed in collaboration with ARC. Figures may differ slightly from other ARC materials due to alternative data sources and rounding conventions.

Retail's role in the packaging conversation

A sector embedded across the economy

Australia’s retail sector is valued at A$444 billion and is the country’s second-largest private-sector employer, supporting more than 1.4 million jobs — including more young Australians aged 15–24 than any other industry. It spans small and independent retailers, large supermarkets, specialty retailers, department and big-box stores, and quick-service restaurants, with a growing online presence alongside its national store footprint.

A sector embedded across the economy

Australia’s retail sector is valued at A$444 billion and is the country’s second-largest private-sector employer, supporting more than 1.4 million jobs — including more young Australians aged 15–24 than any other industry. It spans small and independent retailers, large supermarkets, specialty retailers, department and big-box stores, and quick-service restaurants, with a growing online presence alongside its national store footprint.

When well designed, packaging can support the circular economy — minimising emissions, reducing damage and waste, and avoiding unintended environmental impacts.

Australian retailers are embracing their role in reducing these impacts, but this must be balanced against the practical realities of meeting consumer needs and budgets, complying with safety and health requirements, managing rising business costs, addressing operational and technical constraints, responding to international market pressures, and navigating a complex web of local, state and national regulation — from product safety through to competition law.

Continue to read more
Login to download the report
Register to download the report

A global lens on Extended Producer Responsibility

Internationally, there is significant momentum around packaging design, recyclability, reuse, product stewardship and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

Those experiences offer valuable lessons for Australia — about what works, what doesn’t, and how poorly designed schemes can impose substantial costs without delivering the outcomes intended. This report, developed by Baringa in collaboration with ARC, examines those international approaches and explores how Australia can improve circular-economy outcomes without imposing disproportionate costs on retailers, small businesses or consumers.

Scope of this report

1

Not a prescriptive framework

This report does not recommend a fixed model for Australia, nor does it prescribe a framework for government to adopt.

2

The first phase of a broader process

It sets out design principles, examines international experience, and considers the particular characteristics of the Australian market.

3

A stronger foundation for the way forward

It gives industry and government a shared evidence base to consider whether, and how, EPR could form part of the solution to Australia’s packaging challenges.

What happens next?

ARC is working closely with members and industry now and over the next few months to further develop the retail sector’s position on the best path for governments to take to achieve sustainability objectives. That work will be grounded in evidence about what has worked best around the world, and in making sure any reform is fit for the Australian context.

EPR is one instrument among a broader range of options that remain open for consideration. When industry and government work together to solve complex problems, retailers are more likely to achieve practical outcomes that benefit the environment, strengthen the economy and deliver for Australians.

Thank you for registering.

Your details have been submitted successfully.

Click the button below to download Designing Effective EPR Schemes.

Download the full report now!

Already have ARC Member Portal access?

Login now to download the report!

New to ARC?

Register now to download the report!

Name(Required)
Consent(Required)
Subscribe to our newsletter