Page 1800 - Week 05 - Thursday, 10 May 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MS BERRY: ACT government schools meet the needs of all children, including students that are gifted or talented.
Waste—strategy
MR STEEL: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services. Can the minister update the Assembly on the ACT government’s waste feasibility study?
MS FITZHARRIS: I thank Mr Steel very much for this question. I was very pleased yesterday to release the findings of the Waste feasibility study—a roadmap to improved resource recovery for consultation with the community and stakeholders. The study was established to identify pathways to achieve the territory’s waste management goals, which are outlined in the ACT waste management strategy 2011-25.
This includes a target of 90 per cent of waste being diverted from landfill by 2025, when the resource recovery rate has plateaued at around 70 per cent for the last decade. The government recognised the need for a “step change” to achieve this target and committed $2.8 million over two years in the 2015-16 budget.
With the study now complete, the government has received its final recommendations at a time when public interest in waste management has never been higher, with television programs like the ABC’s War on Waste prompting a necessary and very interesting debate on waste management issues.
The recent changes to conditions surrounding the importation of recyclable products to China have also highlighted the need to encourage more local value adding of waste. The waste feasibility study has given the ACT government a better understanding of local and national waste management systems, their sensitivities and areas for improvement and opportunity. The study’s road map and recommendations are designed to provide a framework to drive change in the ACT community, businesses and the waste industry over the next five years.
MR STEEL: Minister, what did the waste feasibility study deliver, and what are its key recommendations?
MS FITZHARRIS: I thank Mr Steel for the supplementary. The study’s road map and recommendations are designed to provide a comprehensive framework to drive change in the ACT community, businesses and waste industry over the next five years. The road map follows a materials recovery pathway and is consistent with the waste hierarchy principles of reduce, reuse and recycle before energy generation or landfilling.
Many of the recommended steps have already commenced. The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act 2016 is now being implemented by Transport Canberra and City Services, and the green bins scheme is up and running and is hugely popular. A new recommendation for a food organics and garden organic service, called FOGO, is a key focus of the study and would be a large undertaking, with the experiences of
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video