Page 2455 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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(iii) opportunities for business to work with and support recycling and waste reduction industry in the ACT;
(iv) public education and awareness raising that may be beneficial to supporting the recycling and waste reduction industry and its intents; and
(v) specific analysis on opportunities for textiles, building and plastic waste as well as any other waste stream of note identified as part of the inquiry;
(c) work with the CBR innovation network and the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate to develop a strategy and recommendations on measures that may be taken by the ACT Government to support the growth of the industry; and
(d) coordinate with the Waste Infrastructure Study commissioned by Transport Canberra and City Services to inform the final report.
A lot of what we consume as a society ends up as waste to landfill. The food we eat, the appliances we buy and the clothing we wear all have a huge impact on our environment and our economy. In moving this motion today, I am calling on the ACT government, this Assembly and our community to start focusing on how we can find new and innovative ways to reduce waste that will benefit our environment and economy.
In calling for this, I acknowledge the ACT government’s goal of achieving 90 per cent of waste being diverted from landfill by 2025. This ambitious goal sets us in the right direction to mitigate the impacts of waste and pollution on the environment. But to achieve this goal I believe we need to shift our attention and also look at new and innovative ways to reduce and re-use waste. We should be asking about and searching for what we can do to address the environmental and economic impacts of waste in areas that we have not necessarily turned an eye to in the past.
Canberrans understand the importance of reducing, re-using and recycling daily. This ACT government understands that we need to implement innovative ways of reducing waste and creating new jobs. We have established several initiatives that divert waste from landfill and repurpose the materials for good use.
One such initiative is the use of recycled content in the resurfacing of roads in the ACT. Old car tyres, printer toner powder, recycled road surface, recycled road base, recycled concrete and fly ash from power generation are all used in the construction and maintenance of Canberra’s roads. Soft plastics, printer toner cartridges and crushed glass have also been trialled in new road surfaces, with the first trial of these materials completed at the Gundaroo Drive roundabout in my own electorate of Yerrabi. This new road resurfacing program has upskilled workers in this sector and has provided a pathway for the ACT government to continue work on developing a procurement model for mandated recycling content.
In addition to innovative road resurfacing, we have also implemented the hugely successful container deposit scheme and the rollout of green waste bins. I am also looking forward to the re-usable coffee cup zone trial getting underway in Gungahlin,
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