Urgent call for a national waste and recycling strategy

Australia’s independent infrastructure advisory group has listed the development of a national waste and recycling management plan as a high priority for the Morrison government.

Australia’s independent infrastructure advisory group has listed the development of a national waste and recycling management plan as a high priority for the Morrison government as it looks to increase recycling rates from 55 to 70 per cent.

Waste management is one of five national “high priority initiatives” put forward by Infrastructure Australia on Wednesday as part of a list of projects it will call on the government to urgently address.

Infrastructure Australia chief executive Romilly Madew told The Australian on Tuesday the recycling sector presented significant economic opportunities for the nation, but such a scheme would require a co-ordinated response from all levels of government.

Her colleague, Infrastructure Australia executive director Peter Colacino, said of the 67 million tonnes of waste generated in Australia in 2018, a large percentage was unnecessarily sent to landfill.

Mr Colacino said a new approach to waste management was especially important in the wake of China’s National Sword policy, which saw the Asian nation close its doors to the importation of recycled materials in 2018.

The move forced Australia to rethink its decade-long reliance on exporting its waste and had serious ramifications for the nation’s recycling industry, with councils and state governments struggling to contain a growing garbage problem.

Infrastructure Australia says the issue has been exacerbated by limited landfill capacity, which has had a flow-on effect for logistics costs as waste is transferred greater distances.