Page 5948 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010
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MR CORBELL: The current waste policy has actually delivered real results because, when it was commenced, of course, our resource recovery rate was only at the low 40 per cent mark. It is now at close to 75 per cent. So anyone who suggests that waste policy has not achieved results fails to have regard to the fact that the ACT has the best level of resource recovery of any state or territory in the country.
This government want to build on that further. That is why we have identified these new targets. The percentage increases are based, of course, on the extent to which we have utilised waste to date and how we have recovered waste to date. So we are talking about the total percentages achieved, based on the current level of waste going
to landfill. So that is the basis on which we are operating, from this point moving forward.
Mr Coe: On a point of order—
MR SPEAKER: Stop the clocks. Mr Coe, on a point of order.
Mr Coe: It is an issue of direct relevance. I asked what was the base year. It should be quite easy to answer.
MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mrs Dunne: I think the base year should be 19-something or 2000-something.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Dunne! There is no point of order, Mr Coe, because you actually asked two questions and you left it open to the minister to spend as much time on each of them as he chose.
MR CORBELL: The base year is based on the current levels of waste going to landfill. So the current amount of waste going to landfill in the current period is the period that is being used as the base year for the further reduction.
MS PORTER: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Porter.
MS PORTER: Would the minister tell the Assembly about the range of options that the draft strategy discusses that will maintain the ACT’s lead in waste management?
MR CORBELL: Indeed, the waste strategy is not just about recovering waste, although that is obviously a vital part of the strategy. I refer to Mr Coe’s supplementary question earlier about waste generation. There is no doubt that waste generation in the territory is a significant challenge for us. That reflects the relative affluence of the community and the relatively high levels of consumption that occur in our community.
The draft strategy outlines a range of measures to better educate Canberrans about their levels of consumption and how they can reduce the generation of waste in their households in their day-to-day lives. That is a very important part of the strategy. It is a fact that the more affluent a community becomes, often the more waste that is
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