Australia’s conservative Liberal-National federal government will devote $190m towards new recycling infrastructure, as it looks to divert more than 10m tonnes of plastic, paper and glass waste away from landfill.
The funding, which will be contingent on state and territory governments and industry groups matching the federal contribution, is part of a newly launched Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) that the Liberal-National government hopes will generate $600m in investment.
The opposition Labor Party and the Australian Greens Party have expressed concern at the RMF, arguing the funding will not stop production of problematic materials in the first instance and calling for regulatory reform.
In addition to the $190m, the federal government will also spend $24.6m on improving waste data to better track recycling targets, as well as $35m towards implementing its commitments under the National Waste Policy Action Plan, which include waste export bans, plans to increase domestic demand for recycled materials and a national resource recovery target of 80 per cent by 2030.
The proposals have been set back, which the government claims is a result of a COVID-19 induced legislative backlog.
That will mean legislation to enact the bans will be introduced sometime later this year, beginning with a ban on exporting glass waste from January 1, 2021, which had originally been planned to take effect from the second half of this year.
The timeframes for other bans, on exporting mixed plastics from July 1, 2021, tyres from December 1, 2021, single resin and polymer plastics from July 1, 2022, and paper and cardboard from July 1, 2024, are unchanged.
The announcement of the RMF comes after a national plastics summit in March, when the Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlined an overhaul of government procurement rules to increase demand for recycled products, as part of the government’s new recycling policy.
The government has made reducing plastic waste the focus of its environment policy, with Mr Morrison telling a UN climate summit last year his government would drastically reduce plastic pollution.
The Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, said the RMF was made contingent on state, territory and industry matching the investment because “we need manufacturers and industry to take a genuine stewardship role that helps create a sustainable circular economy”.
“As we cease shipping our waste overseas, the waste and recycling transformation will reshape our domestic waste industry, driving job creation and putting valuable materials back into the economy,” Ms Ley said.
“Australians need to have faith that the items they place in their kerbside recycling bins will be re-used in roads, carpet, building materials and a range of other essential items.
The assistant minister for waste reduction and environment, Trevor Evans, said “our targeted investment will grow Australia’s circular economy, create more jobs and build a stronger onshore recycling industry”.
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia says more needs to be done to turbo charge recycling, including fast-tracked products, markets for recycled products and more focus on packaging design.
“Genuine product stewardship legislation that makes producers responsible for managing what they bring to market is required,” the group says.
Labor’s assistant environment spokesman Josh Wilson criticised the government for how long it took to introduce the scheme.
“Unfortunately, today’s announcement is belated action on one part of that integrated picture.
“It does not address the critical area of regulatory reform and there is still no detail on how demand for recycled content will be supported through meaningful procurement targets and related mechanisms,” he said.
“We look forward to further detail about the funding and especially the timelines,” Mr Wilson said.
Australian Greens waste and recycling spokesman Peter Whish-Wilson took the criticism further, saying the RMF “just won’t work”.
“All the money in the world isn’t going to fix the waste crisis if we don’t improve the way we recycle.
“This means stopping the problem at its source: we need to stop producing so much waste and invest in a ‘circular economy’.”
EcoNews is an independent publication that relies on contributions from its readers.
WE’RE BUILDING A PLATFORM WITH A CLEAR FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL GOOD. CONTRIBUTE AND TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE AN IMPACT.
If you value EcoNews, but are unable to contribute via sponsorship or advertising we ask that you promote our online store The Native Shop – www.nativeshop.com.au via your social media to assist us to fund this valuable service.
