The Federal Government has committed to a $1 billion waste and recycling plan. Among its goals is encouragement for industry to take responsibility for control of waste streams which potentially includes the implementation of stewardship schemes.

The AADA fully supports the move to ban waste exporting and agrees that there are many opportunities for recycling and responsible disposal of end of life vehicles. Development of these processes however will require extensive consultation with industry to ensure that any End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) scheme does not pass on excessive additional costs to consumers and industry.

The Federal Government will commit $190 million to a new Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) that it says will generate $600 million of recycling investment and drive a billion-dollar transformation of Australia’s waste and recycling capacity.

The Government claims the scheme will create more than 10,000 jobs and divert over 10 million tonnes of waste from landfill to the making of useful products as Australia turbocharges its recycling capacity.

The RMF will support innovative investment in new infrastructure to sort, process and re-manufacture materials such as mixed plastic, paper, tyres and glass, with Commonwealth funding contingent on co-funding from industry, states and territories. It includes:

• $35 million to implement Commonwealth commitments under Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan, which sets the direction for waste management and recycling in Australia until 2030.
• $24.6 million on Commonwealth commitments to improve our national waste data so it can measure recycling outcomes and track progress against our national waste targets.
• The introduction of new Commonwealth waste legislation to formally enact the Government’s waste export ban and encourage companies to take greater responsibility for the waste they generate, from product design through to recycling, re-manufacture or disposal (Product Stewardship).

Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, said the moves were part of a national strategy to change the way Australia looks at waste, grow the economy, protect the environment and reach a national resource recovery target of 80% by 2030.

“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,” she said.
“We need to stop throwing away tonnes of electronic waste and batteries each year and develop new ways to recycle valuable resources. As we pursue National Waste Policy Action Plan targets, we need Manufacturers and industry to take a genuine stewardship role that helps create a sustainable circular economy.”

The unparalleled expansion of Australia’s recycling capacity follows the 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan, Australia’s government ban on exports of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres, and this year’s first ever National Plastics Summit.