National Recycling Week

There is a lot to celebrate this National Recycling Week with the Morrison Government putting waste and recycling firmly on the agenda.

The Morrison Government is driving a $1 billion in investment in Australia’s waste and recycling industries, creating more than 10,000 jobs and diverting over 10 million tonnes of waste away from landfill.

The Morrison Government has placed an export ban on waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres and every week, more and more of the products on our supermarket shelves are displaying the Australian Government endorsed Australasian Recycling Label, to make it easier for the consumer to get recycling right.

This week, the landmark Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 was introduced to Parliament. This bill seeks to legislate a national framework for recycling and waste and take advantage of the once in a generation opportunity to improve our waste management and recycling practices presented by the export ban.

The waste export ban is the first of its kind in the world and provides a new blueprint for how countries around the globe can deal with their waste.

This will not only change the way Australia manages its own waste but will also change the way we think about waste, seeing it as a resource to be continually remanufactured into new products, rather than a problem to be sent to landfill.

This 25th National Recycling Week is an important reminder to all Victorians to play their part in reducing waste to landfill and keeping it out of our unique natural environment.

The benefits to our environment will be significant as we reduce litter, especially plastics, which pollutes our oceans and parks, so that we protect our precious wildlife and marine life.

An important thing that every member of our community can easily do this week is to check their local council website to make sure that they are up to date on the latest recycling information.

Senator for Victoria, David Van said, “In 2016-17, Australians generated about 69 million tonnes of waste, but now, Australian governments have committed to reducing waste by 285 kilograms per person by 2030.”

“I encourage all Victorians to consider what they can do to re-use products, cut down on single-use plastics and take advantage of various product stewardship schemes to dispose of items like batteries, e-waste, used paint tins and mattresses,” Senator Van said.

“Australia’s recycling rate is currently at 60 per cent, so there is much more to be done if we want to hit our 2030 target of recycling 80 per cent of all our waste by 2030,” Senator Van said.

“We know that reinvigorating our recycling capacity is not just great for our local environment—it’s also an opportunity to create jobs, with nine jobs created for every 10,000 tonnes of material recycled, compared to just three jobs when material is sent to landfill,” Senator Van said.

For more information about National Recycling Week and how you can get involved with events near you, head to Planet Ark’s website at: https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/nationalrecyclingweek/