Page 4714 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the end of this year, it makes sense for the ACT to develop a similar scheme, since we know our waste flows are integrated into the broader New South Wales market.
Ideally, I would like to see the implementation of a national container deposit scheme, which would mean there would be one consistent approach across the country. But in the absence of federal action on this issue, it is great to have the ACT progressing a container deposit scheme and joining with New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory. There seems to be a pattern emerging on environmental policy, whereby our federal colleagues are dithering and the states and territories are getting on with the job.
There is strong evidence that a container deposit scheme does help to improve recycling rates and reduce litter. According to the Boomerang Alliance, every year Australians consume drinks from around 13 billion containers. Only around 40 per cent of these are recycled, so we know there is plenty of ground to be made up to capture more recyclable materials.
In contrast to these national figures, I understand the South Australian scheme has resulted in around an 80 per cent return rate of drinks containers. The South Australian EPA reported that in 2013-14 that equated to nearly 583 million containers returned, with more than $58 million in refunds. The South Australian scheme has been running for over 30 years and its success provides a great example of what can be achieved in the ACT in terms of improving recycling rates and creating new clean businesses and jobs.
I am pleased to be debating this bill today, at a time when waste is becoming an increasingly important issue for people across the territory, particularly as Canberra’s population continues to grow. If we continue consuming at current rates, we will encounter increasing problems with costly landfills, depleting natural resources and the economic and environmental costs that come with extracting those resources.
The ACT Greens believe our waste must be minimised and managed sustainably to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change and keep our city clean and livable for all Canberrans. We believe all waste should be treated as a potentially valuable resource and processed in a way that achieves the maximum economic and environmental benefit. A container deposit scheme will play an important role in diverting valuable resources away from landfill and ensuring that they can be recycled for future use.
The ACT has set some ambitious targets when it comes to waste minimisation and resource recovery. The ACT waste management strategy has set a goal of recovering over 90 per cent of our waste in the ACT by 2025. This may seem a long way off at the moment, with our current resource recovery rates sitting closer to 60 per cent, but this goal is achievable if we introduce the right incentives in our system to make sure we keep materials in the economy for as long as possible. A container deposit scheme is one part of this circular economic model, alongside other important initiatives. These include improving waste education, separating green and food waste for composting, and improving product design to make products more durable and able to be repaired rather than tossed out after a single use.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video