Official Publication of the
ISSUE 90 | JUNE/JULY 2019
www.insidewaste.com.au
INSIDE 24 Waste 2019 conference wrap-up 28 Landfill guidelines 42 Illegal dumping Trevor Evans has been appointed as Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environment Management.
Federal government gives waste precedence THE feeling from many in the waste industry is a positive one, as the election result brings with it hope of more funding and support for the sector. The Liberal-National Coalition has returned for another inning with promises in the hundreds of millions to support the country’s waste sector and the appointment of Trevor Evans as the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environment Management – a newly created cabinet position. Overall, this year’s federal election was seen as a win for many in the waste industry, regardless of who won. Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) CEO, Gayle Sloan, said it is both encouraging and positive to see the industry attracting the attention of all levels of government. Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) CEO, Pete Shmigel, commended the Liberal Party on its waste policy, but he also pointed out that any outcome would have benefitted the waste industry significantly for the first time. “In a funny way, our industry could not lose in the election,” he said.
Liberal’s pre-election policy:
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
• $100 million to develop the Australian Recycling Investment
Fund to support the manufacturing of lower emissions and energy-efficient recycled content products; • $ 20m towards a Product Stewardship Investment Fund to accelerate work on industry-led recycling schemes for batteries, electrical and electronic products, photovoltaic systems and plastic oil containers; • $20m towards new and innovative solutions for plastic recycling and waste through the Cooperative Research Centres Projects grants program; • $ 16m to support the Pacific Ocean Litter Project, working with neighbours in the Pacific to reduce plastics and other waste in the ocean; •U p to $5.8m for a range of initiatives through the Environment Restoration Fund to support Clean Up Australia, Keep Australia Beautiful, ACOR, Planet Ark, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) and OzHarvest; •U p to $5m through for Conservation Volunteers Australia to coordinate community campaigns to clean up plastic waste in beaches and rivers; • C ontinued work with state, territory and local governments on opportunities to get more recycled content into road construction,
which builds on the funding provided to the Australian Road Research Board in the 2019 Budget.
Labor’s pre-election policy: •D irecting its $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Future Fund to work directly with manufacturers looking to develop solutions to singleuse packaging, and continued investment into innovative waste to energy projects; • Establishing mandatory targets for all government departments in relation to the recycled content of materials bought directly or provided by private contractors; • Seeking to expand schemes to other products that are currently ending up in landfills, such as solar PV, whitegoods and all e-waste; • I ntroducing a national waste commissioner to work with all stakeholders and levels of government; • Providing $60m over six years to a new National Recycling and Circular Economy Fund for seed, commercialisation and project ready activities that extend adoption of the principles of the circular economy; • A national ban on single-use plastic bags and microbeads by 2021. (Continued on page 20.)
Wasted opportunities for circular economy While Europe has a clear focus to create a circular economy, the speed in which raw materials are turned into waste is cause for concern, European Commission policy officer, Rozalina Petrova, explained. She spoke about Europe’s take on waste management and circular economy at the Waste 2019 conference at Coffs Harbour. The European Union (EU) has strategies in place that keep a large proportion from landfill, but Petrova indicated that too many materials are still slipping through the cracks. “We have to make sure that we close the loop. But we also have to slow the circle, because the speed in which we turn raw materials into waste is fascinating,” she said at the conference. “We also have to narrow it down. We have to prevent waste.” Information from the European Commission states that Europe currently uses 16 tonnes of material per person each year – of which, six tonnes become waste. In 2010, total waste production in the EU amounted to 2.5 billion tonnes – 36 per cent was recycled, with the rest landfilled or burned. Of this amount, the European Commission estimates about 600 million tonnes could be recycled or reused. The EU’s approach to waste management is based on the waste hierarchy, which sets a specific priority order when shaping waste policy and managing waste at an operational level. (Continued on page 24.)
Thank you to all our charity partners Return-It’s successful launch into both the ACT and Queensland was made possible through our dedicated charity partners. We thank you for your commitment to our community members in need. We are proud to operate container refund schemes so as to benefit not only the customer and the environment, but the broader community as well. Return-It. It’s worth it.
www.returnit.com.au