Morrison govt pledges $190m to ‘turbo charge’ recycling
The Morrison government is pledging to overhaul Australia’s recycling industry after delaying the waste export ban to 2021.
The Morrison government is pledging to “turbo charge” recycling, with a $190m fund to overhaul the industry after delaying a ban on waste exports to 2021 and repeated calls for greater investment.
The Recycling Modernisation Fund, announced on Monday by Environment Minister Sussan Ley, is expected to spur up to $600m in private investment, create 10,000 jobs and divert 10 million tonnes of waste from landfill into the production of products.
The fund will support new infrastructure in the sorting, processing and remanufacturing of
materials such as mixed plastic, paper, tyres and glass, with government funding “contingent on co-funding from industry, states and territories”. A spokesman from the Environment Minister’s office told The Australian the co-funding model would likely be on an equal contribution basis.
The funding is being welcomed by key industry groups that say they have been petitioning for increased investment in recycling measures for years. “This bonza and unprecedented investment will transform Australian recycling and help make it domestically sustainable,” Peter Shmigel, head of the Australian Council of Recycling, said.
“RMF builds on our industry’s innovation and investment in making more recycled content products and generating hi-vis regional jobs here in Australia.”
The Australian last year revealed huge quantities of hazardous Australian waste was being dumped in neighbouring countries. Half of Australia’s recyclable waste has typically been shipped overseas, predominantly to Southeast Asia, but the government announced in August it would ban waste exports and set a national resource recovery target of 80 per cent by 2030.
That ban has since been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, with an export ban on glass coming into effect on January 1, 2021, mixed plastics that are not single resin/polymer from July 1, 2021, and further bans over the following months.
“As we cease shipping our waste overseas, the waste and recycling transformation will reshape our domestic waste industry, driving job creation and putting valuable materials back into the economy,” Ms Ley said in announcing the fund on Monday.
“Australians need to have faith that items they place in their kerbside recycling bins will be reused in roads, carpet, building materials and a range of other essential items. At the same time, we need to stop throwing away tonnes of electronic waste and batteries each year and develop new ways to recycle valuable resources.”
The announcement comes after numerous instances of recycling waste piling up in warehouses across the country.
About 150 tonnes of plastics were left at a warehouse in Melbourne’s Tullamarine in late 2019 after recycling company OzShred was told to vacate the property for failing to pay two months’ rent.
Before that, another five warehouses in Melbourne had been left stranded with tens of thousands of tonnes of waste following the collapse of recycler, SKM Recycling.
Assistant Minister for Waste Management Trevor Evans said the government was developing “national standards for recycled content in roads and making recycled products a focus of procurement” for infrastructure, defence estate management and general government purchasing.
He said packaging company The Pact Group had announced a $500m investment in new facilities, research and technology, and was joining Cleanaway and Asahi Beverages to establish a $30m recycling facility in Albury.
Mr Shmigel wants the government to create a campaign to encourage “buying recycled” across all sectors. “Lighthouse projects using recycled content materials are needed so the community can see positive results of their ongoing participation. More recycling factories only make sense when there is demand for their recycled content products.”
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