Lainie Anderson: It’s a rubbish idea — and SA should cash in on it

CHINA will no longer accept and recycle waste from other nations — so SA should take advantage of this lucrative industry, says Lainie Anderson.

• Chinese ban on imported paper and plastics may force rate hikes
• Recycling crisis: Waste industry seeks bailout
• Council to stop recycling as costs increase by $2m a year

SOUTH Australia said “No” to a high-level nuclear waste industry, so how about cashing in on a turbocharged recyclable waste industry instead?

It’s a question worth asking as China enforces its ban on recycled waste, effectively closing its borders to 30 million metric tonnes of garbage annually from countries across the globe, including Australia.

I must admit, until recently I had no idea we were sending some of our recycled waste offshore. I naively thought Australia dealt with its own waste — like a sustainable, smart, developed nation.

And in fairness, we clever South Australians do process most of our own recyclables, with only eight per cent sent interstate and five per cent shipped overseas.

We’re still exporting a small amount to China, too, despite the ban because our processing centres are pretty handy at sorting materials so we’re able to meet their strict new criteria of less than 0.5 per cent contamination.

So what’s changed? Well, with China closing its borders and all this unwanted recyclable waste now flooding other global markets, prices have flatlined. Recycled materials that were once fetching $200 a tonne have plummeted by up to 90 per cent.

Those formerly high prices have for years helped to subsidise kerbside collection, which means our local councils are suddenly facing holes in their budgets of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s so dire that the Victorian and NSW governments have announced multimillion-dollar relief packages to help councils cope, and also to ensure that separate recycling bins continue to be collected and it’s not all sent to landfill.

In South Australia, new Environment Minister David Speirs has just established a working group — including Green Industries SA, the EPA, the Waste Management Association of Australia and the Local Government Association — to look at the implications of the China ban.

The State Government will consider any options recommended for assistance.

It all sounds a bit of a worry, especially given the confronting images we so often see on TV of the plastic deluge in our oceans and on beaches around the world. (Fascinating to hear this week that scientists might have accidentally discovered a plastic-eating enzyme — let’s hope it works and doesn’t have some equally shocking side-effect.)

KESAB executive director John Phillips says the China ban was inevitable — and if we’re smart, we’ll use it to SA’s advantage. Here’s his four-point plan to turn a perfect storm into a great new industry:

USE some of the $100 million that’s accumulated in SA’s Green Waste Industry Fund to invest in latest technology and innovative recycling and reprocessing plants. We should also consider increasing our economies of scale by accepting recyclable waste from interstate, making it cheaper to process waste into new products (sand, for example) that can later be sold back to the other states.

MANDATE the use of recyclables in State Government procurement processes.

INCREASE pressure on Australian grocery manufacturers and retailers to use more recyclable packaging. (London and Berlin now have plastic-free boutique food shops and Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza is rolling out plastic-free aisles in its 74 stores.)

EDUCATE South Australians to reduce the amount of contamination in recycling bins, to stop waste that could be recycled going to landfill.

Importantly, Mr Phillips says the waste-management industry is working proactively on this issue and they’ve had positive discussions with the new government.

When you consider how we led the nation with our container deposit scheme 40 years ago, and our plastic bag ban in more recent times, this so-called “China Sword” does start to feel like an opportunity as well as a challenge.

I can see the branding now: “South Australia — where trash is treasured.”

AND ANOTHER THING ...

■ New Police Minister Cory Wingard was wrong not to send another Liberal MP — better still, a fellow Minister — to a community meeting addressing widespread angst over increasing violence in the southern suburbs. I’ve also got to say that, on radio, Mr Wingard has quickly made himself a major contender for the title of ministerial windbag. We are sick of wah, Mr Wingard. Please press reset.

■ It’s not surprising that several Hutt St traders have started a video campaign to counter negative perceptions of their CBD strip. The way some Adelaide City Council members are carrying on, you’d think the place was a war zone. It’s not. SAPOL say there’s been no increase in crime in recent months, but they’ve deployed extra resources to combat “fear of crime”. You can support “Hutt St Hug St” by refusing to avoid the place.

■ As part of SA’s fabbo History Festival, I’m giving a talk for the Australian Airmail Society on the 1919 Air Race from England to Australia. The free event is at Saphil House in the citystarts at 7.45pm on Wednesday 2 May. To reserve a seat, email [e-mail]