Page 2460 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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with the recycle right region-wide campaign to simplify our messaging on recycling and ensure that only clean and correct materials are placed in yellow bins.
We are also collaborating with organisations such as the Canberra Environment Centre to empower our community to create a more sustainable future through lifelong behaviour change, and we are exploring the application of circular economy principles to treat today’s waste as tomorrow’s resource.
Ms Orr mentioned the work that we are doing using recycled products in our roads and road resurfacing in the Gungahlin area, and we are currently looking at how we can procure a certain amount of recycled content across all roads in the ACT.
We recognise that the circular economy principles present a significant opportunity for the waste and resource recovery sector, helping to stem our reliance on virgin materials and maximise the economic value of waste as a resource. Transport Canberra and City Services has begun engaging with the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment on the potential for an ACT circular economy strategy.
Of course, this pivot towards a circular economy is not unique to the ACT. We have a national waste policy that has been agreed to by all governments—state, territory and commonwealth—that provides opportunities for national collaboration that are being investigated through a circular economy cross-jurisdictional working group as we speak.
The government is administering the ACT container deposit scheme, which is also focused on litter reduction but which encourages recycling industry development and the use of recycled materials in government and private projects as well. During 2018-19 the CDS operator, Return-It, established 21 network collection points, which has resulted in the recovery at this point in time of 27.3 million containers. Glass sand processed through the material recovery facility has been included in successful trials of a new asphalt product in Canberra roads, along with plastic bags and soft plastics collected through the ACT container deposit scheme, printer cartridges, as well as recycled asphalt.
We are also supporting ongoing investment in better recycling and resource recovery through a levy on the disposal of waste to landfill. In July this year we introduced an interim levy on waste disposal for commercial landfill operators at ACT government facilities, and we continue to work on developing an enhanced permanent ACT waste levy. In doing so we are contributing to the harmonisation of waste levies on mainland Australia and joining our jurisdictional partners in sending a strong price signal that makes recycling and resource recovery more attractive than landfill.
The government’s approach is part of a broader strategy to improve recycling and support jobs growth. There are 53 licensed waste facilities in the ACT, both public and privately owned, which are improving our ability to recover resources for use locally and for sale to end markets. These facilities provide employment opportunities, provide jobs for Canberrans and further our economic growth.
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