Page 1960 - Week 07 - Thursday, 13 August 2020
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MS LEE: What penalties, if any, have been issued to the company? If none, why not?
MR STEEL: As I have mentioned, a range of enforcement has been undertaken. I will provide information to the Assembly about what, if any, penalties have been issued.
Waste—recycling
MR PETTERSSON: My question is directed to the Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction. Minister, can you outline what improvements are being made to recycling infrastructure in the ACT?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for getting my title correct and for his interest in waste management in the ACT. The government is taking responsibility for waste and its impact on the environment and investing in the latest technology to generate cleaner recycling in the ACT and the Canberra region.
In February the ACT government and the Canberra Region Joint Organisation presented the recycling prospectus, following our regional roundtable on waste in December 2019. This proposed a $21 million upgrade to the ACT materials recovery facility to support domestic kerbside recycling across the ACT and a number of councils in New South Wales. Our region is not immune to the waste crisis that has disrupted recycling industries across the globe, including in Australia.
Our ACT government is committed to banning exports of specific types of waste overseas and delivering a plan for managing waste better locally at all stages of the process. When Canberrans put material into their yellow bin they should be confident that it will be sorted and recycled locally and that we ensure that these products go on to proper re-manufacturing in the best use possible.
I am pleased that last month the ACT government announced joint funding, with the federal government, of $21 million for upgrades to the materials recovery facility in Hume. This includes optical scanning equipment to identify and separate different types of plastics, technologies to better track the movement and storage of bales, glass washing facilities to provide better quality crushed glass-sand products, plastic washing and flaking facilities. The flaking process breaks the washed plastic into small pieces, providing clean product ready for local markets. Better screening technology will also be provided to improve paper and cardboard recycling.
The upgraded facility will improve the domestic marketability of recycled products from the ACT and surrounds and help us to build a circular economy and, importantly, create jobs.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, how will the upgrades improve recycling outcomes in the ACT?
MR STEEL: The upgrades to our materials recovery facility will deliver better separation of recycling streams such as paper, glass and plastic, reducing
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