Recycling crisis
- Exclusive
- Waste
Australian container return schemes are a booming good news story
Unlike efforts to recycle soft plastics, container deposit schemes have been a success across Australia, with billions of bottles recycled.
- Nick O'Malley and Bianca Hall
Latest
Thinking of returning an online purchase? It might end up in landfill
The amount of unsold goods being thrown out has surged since 2021, and a key reason is the growth in returns of online purchases.
- Frances Howe
- Analysis
- Recycling
We can have democracy without the plastic waste
Corflutes are fully recyclable, but signs from the 2025 election are already winding up in landfill or as litter.
- Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Labor commits to national packaging rules as Planet Ark collapses
The environmental charity behind a number of high-profile recycling schemes went into voluntary administration this week.
- Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Pay dirt: Landfills fight for lucrative soil contracts
Rising landfill levies and a slowdown in construction have sparked instability within Victoria’s waste industry as operators warn of aggressive tactics and the financial collapse of some recycling and reuse companies.
- Kieran Rooney
- Opinion
- Food waste
Red, yellow or green? The stress of putting the wrong thing in the wrong bin
I am stuck in a vicious cycle of attempting to recycle, and no number of colour-coded bins can save me.
- Thomas Mitchell
Fear of thousands of cannibal mice helped sink a huge NSW recycling plant
Australia’s largest recycling plant was set to be built next to a crucial medical facility – and the potential impacts were dire.
- Angus Dalton
Despite ‘smell issues’, NSW plans to mandate household food scraps collection
Australia is unlikely to meet national goals like halving the amount of organic waste going to landfill by 2030. But efforts are stepping up.
- Caitlin Fitzsimmons
‘Like Armageddon’: Impact of toxic SKM rubbish blaze laid bare
Those who lived and worked near the massive 2017 fire at the recycling facility in Melbourne’s north told a court how it had left their lungs burning and the ground covered in smouldering ash.
- Sarah Danckert
- Exclusive
- Recycling
The secret facility extracting gold from electronic waste
Metallurgists are extracting gold, silver and copper as they hunt through your e-waste for precious metals.
- Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/recycling-crisis-1n4t