Page 2735 - Week 09 - Thursday, 9 August 1990
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Management. I commend the students involved in putting out that document. The report was prepared as a major project by students of the associate diploma of business management course which was conducted by the TAFE. It was printed on recycled paper and is a very good document. It looked at the community attitudes.
While 42 per cent of respondents presently recycle paper products in one way or another in the ACT, that figure could be much larger. I am sure that many of the people feel that when the paper ends up being dumped they do not have as much incentive to recycle.
It is time that recycled paper is used in the production of newsprint. None is currently used in Australia, but I am told that in Canada it is now used in about 45 per cent of newsprint. I am sure that there are other things that can be done. Indonesia takes a considerable amount of our recycled paper. Other markets could be sought out.
While it could be said that the success of the paper collection program has caused a glut, there is little point in encouraging participation if much of the newsprint that is being collected for recycling ends up being dumped, as I said before. The same problem occurs with plastics. Much work needs to be done on developing the market in the longer term if recycling of plastics is to be successful. Recycled plastic resin or a mixture of recycled and new resin could be used in many existing plastic applications. Similarly, food cans for recycling are not economically viable in the ACT. The cost of cleaning, detinning and transportation far exceeds the cost of scrap metal. These are the issues that need to be addressed.
I also want to mention car bodies and the problems that the average Canberran witnesses when visiting the local tip. They have a good market and their collection for recycling is viable and profitable, yet we have only to visit the tip to see how many end up over the tip face with normal household garbage. Unfortunately, the problem is that as soon as it rains normal household waste ends up at the top of the tip with the car bodies, and they are all pushed together over the face of the tip.
All these issues must be addressed in the short term. We must become serious about our end product. We must create an environment that is favourable for recycling. We must ensure that materials recovered have sufficient value to cover the cost of collection, and we must stimulate the market for recycled products. Consumers need to be encouraged to buy the end products from recycling. The Government should be using recycled paper wherever possible, and I am pleased to see that initiatives are in place to have that happen.
I believe we should adopt the recommendation of the public behaviour committee and introduce container deposit legislation. I saw this operate very well in Canada a
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