Page 4567 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 31 October 2018
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The ACT’s approach to plastic could be described as somewhat compromised or conflicted. We have banned plastic bags, but go to any supermarket and you can put any number of fruit and vegetables into a plastic carrier bag which is of almost the same consistency and composition as the banned shopping bags. They are freely available and there is no limit on how many you can use. If we are really serious about plastic bag use in supermarkets, why do we continue to see trays and plastic boxes to package fruit and vegetables? Perhaps more effort and thought need to go into exploring other options, including packaging laws.
We might have slowed plastic going to landfill but the fact remains that Mugga Lane is a finite resource and cannot continue to grow exponentially. Efforts by proponents to engage the community in considering new ways of dealing with our waste, including waste to energy, over the past few years or so have not had the most positive outcomes so far.
Whilst it is important to acknowledge the concerns raised by the community about these proposals, I note that recent developments following the results of the ACT waste feasibility study confirmed that the ACT is unlikely to achieve a recovery rate of more than 80 per cent without some form of waste to energy process. It should be noted that waste to energy processing is not a new process in the ACT. Waste to energy is already in use, with methane gas captured at the Mugga Lane and west Belconnen landfill facilities being used to power around 3,000 homes.
A recently announced have your say consultation process has been started to gather community feedback and provide information on the different types of waste to energy that could be introduced into the ACT to manage waste. The government has also launched an information paper to outline the challenges and opportunities for the technology in the ACT context. I welcome these steps by the government to seek further consultation with the community on these proposals and hope that the ACT community will take an open and considered approach to how realistically and practically we will manage waste into the future.
The consultation process concludes at the end of November, and I would urge all Canberrans who have an interest in ensuring that the ACT has the most modern options available to manage waste into the future to take time to attend an information session and make sure their views are heard.
I have no way of knowing how feasible Ms Orr’s call for a plastic-free event by October 2020 is. Subject to the proper and transparent accountability measures on cost and social impact being in place, I do not object to the idea per se. I support her calls for the ACT to continue to find meaningful and significant ways to reduce single-use plastic, and also to work with other jurisdictions to phase out problematic and unnecessary plastics.
I am mindful, however, that Ms Orr has spoken about this issue numerous times in the chamber, most recently in August, when she moved a motion that was not too dissimilar to this one today. Given that this is yet another time when she is raising the issue of plastics, and in particular single-use plastics, I am beginning to wonder
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