Page 646 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 1990
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bins, mainly for those waste products which cannot be recycled or composted. But another part of the strategy to cut down on excessive use of tips by private vehicles, especially by the commercial building sector of the economy, is to place a charge, as is the case throughout Australia's major cities, on the use of tips. This is not to raise money, it is not a revenue matter; it is to try to cut down on the use of tips. Even in that case there is no charge suggested for depositing recyclables, such as aluminium, glass and paper, and loads consisting of large-scale compostables, such as garden clippings.
We are dealing here with the lifestyle of Canberrans. I recognise that going to the tip has become part of the normal life of thousands of them. I formally ask that we now regard much of that activity as a wasteful luxury which needs to be replaced by a more efficient and conservation-minded waste disposal system.
I will not spend any further time here on container deposit legislation, but I refer you all to recommendation 46 which suggests the possible need for such a development if our stress on recycling of glass were not to be sufficiently effective.
Finally, may I urge you to refer to the summary of the report, to be reminded of the overall recycling and waste management strategy recommended by the committee. It is our hope that this report provides the blueprint for a strategy which will put the ACT at the forefront of responsible waste management in Australia.
MR STEFANIAK (3.17): Firstly, I would like to extend my appreciation for the hard work done by the Assembly staff in preparing this committee report. It would be very remiss not to single out for special praise Peta Roberts, the committee secretary, for all the hard work that she did. She had two committees - the inaugural committee of Gary Humphries, Carmel Maher, Michael Moore and Bill Wood and the second committee of Hector Kinloch, me and Bill Wood. She coped with a very difficult job most admirably. I extend my great appreciation for all her assistance and efforts and the very many long hours she spent preparing this report and also to the other Assembly staff who helped her. I would like that noted.
Naturally, there are some controversial aspects to this report, and one of those revolves around options for efficient collection of domestic waste. The committee noted that over one-third of all waste disposed of at landfills is generated from households. We believe that efficiency in collection will reduce the need for landfill in the future through improved management of landfill today. In the ACT we have only a limited number of sites readily accessible to be used as tips. The sites that the committee saw have a limited life span, and it is very important to do all we can to reduce the use of those sites.
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