Page 1971 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 June 2021
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I was very pleased recently to hear that Minister Ley, the commonwealth Minister for the Environment, put the industry “on notice with clear time lines for action” in relation to solar panel stewardship. National leadership and coordination on this issue are necessary to ensure that these initiatives provide for national solutions so that all jurisdictions have options for solar panel recycling.
Following this announcement, I will shortly be writing to Minister Ley congratulating the commonwealth on taking action on solar panels—national action—and reiterating the government’s support for action on other items, including general electrical appliances and large batteries, and to make sure that those freeloaders are brought in through regulation, not just through industry-led approaches.
Working with the commonwealth to progress this is practical action that our government is taking now. As we know, listing items for product stewardship is the responsibility of the federal government, under the Product Stewardship Act and the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act. The ACT continues to participate in a national working group on solar PV, which has been ongoing—prior to Ms Lawder’s motion even coming into the Assembly—and which is led by the Victorian government, where matters relating to product stewardship are discussed.
While there is a market for refurbishment and redistribution of solar panels domestically, there is currently no coordinated national approach and no facilities in the ACT that accommodate the safe disposal of solar panels. As was mentioned in Ms Clay’s motion, in July 2019 Victoria banned e-waste going into landfill. Transport Canberra and City Services will continue to engage with our Victorian counterparts to understand the effectiveness of that approach and ensure that challenges and opportunities with this approach are considered in any future policy development.
It is crucial that Canberrans possess the means to dispose of e-waste safely and responsibly. The ACT government is committed to diverting waste away from Canberra’s landfill and encouraging material recovery through specialised recycling programs.
In the ACT residents can dispose of household e-waste for free at the Mugga Lane and Mitchell resource management centres. This includes broken whitegoods, appliances and other electronic items. We also encourage Canberrans with working, useful items to seek out businesses who accept these for reuse or refurbishment. Details of these businesses are available on the Recyclopaedia webpage.
Our government believes in managing waste in our environment responsibly and, in the context of these waste streams, that means product stewardship. We believe that the onus should not be on the person disposing of the material to cover the costs for doing the right thing. Building the cost of recovery and recycling into the manufacture and purchase cost is much more efficient, comprehensive and a holistic solution.
As I have mentioned today, it will take a coordinated national approach to address many of the issues associated with the disposal of general electrical appliances, solar panels and large batteries. As such, I look forward to continuing to work with the
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