Implement the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, fund it adequately, and keep it fit for purpose.
Environment & ClimateWaste & Recycling
Environment & Climate · Waste & RecyclingFour years stuck at 16%. Time to design out waste for good.
Australia promised itself a 70% plastics recycling rate by 2025. By the minister’s own admission, plastics recycling has sat near 16% for four years. Add a $37 billion annual food-waste bill — about 70% of it still edible — and the case for change makes itself. Our plan: fund the Act, back the recyclers, hit 80% average recovery by 2030.
16% Where plastics recycling has sat for four years Against a promised 70% by 2025 — a shortfall the Environment Minister admitted herself.
80% Average recovery across all waste streams by 2030 The 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan's target — our plan delivers it with annual, measurable targets.
$37bn Food waste's annual cost to the economy Foodbank says about 70% of wasted food is edible — much of it left on farms.
6 Research fronts the plan would fund Plastic replacement, metals recovery, battery reuse, energy from waste, solar-panel recycling, competitive resins.
Six items, four bins, one working system
A banana peel, an old phone, a tin still in date — sort six everyday items into the four streams a circular system runs on: repair and product schemes, compost and food rescue, recycling, and landfill last.
Every number in the game is from the policy: plastics recycling stuck near 16%, an 80%-by-2030 average recovery target, and a $37 billion food-waste bill — about 70% of it edible.
The plan at a glance
Deliver the 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan target — an average 80% recovery from all waste streams by 2030, with annual, measurable targets.
Build awareness and business investment across repair, reuse and recycling — an industry still at startup phase, held back by procurement and thin promotion.
Nationally consistent waste controls, clear labelling and consistent bins — plus national recycler incentives so the public shares the benefits.
Phase out hard-to-recycle plastics and build a food waste plan — donation incentives, better storage and distribution — against the $37 billion bill.
Linear today, circular by design
Both columns come straight from the policy — the problems it names, and the commitments it makes.
The system as it stands
- Plastics recycling stuck near 16% for four years, against a 70%-by-2025 target
- A recycling industry at startup phase, hampered by procurement and thin promotion
- Plastic fragments entering ecosystems — and our bodies — through the food chain
- $37 billion of food wasted a year, about 70% of it still edible
- Pre-sorting still patchy; bins that change from council to council
The plan on the table
- 80% average recovery from all waste streams by 2030, measured annually
- The Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 funded and kept fit for purpose
- Hard-to-recycle plastics phased out; research into replacing unnecessary plastic
- A national food waste plan — donation incentives, better storage and distribution
- Consistent bins, labels and controls nationwide, with incentives the public shares in
The full policy
Word for word — the platform as our members wrote it.
The Issues
Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek admitted last year that rather than rising to reach a target of 70% by 2025, recycling rates have remained at about 16% for the previous four years. Something needs to change.
Much of the recycling industry is at startup phase rather than mainstream or high-capacity businesses. Their production is hampered by procurement processes and lack of marketing or promotion. Pre-sorting of waste is still an issue across the community.
The growing awareness that plastic waste fragments are entering our bodies and ecosystems through the food chain and by being ingested, has placed a new urgency on plastic waste and its recycling.
The waste problem has also recently focused on food waste, which is reported to cost the economy $37 billion annually. According to Foodbank, approximately 70% of wasted food is edible, much of it left on farms.
Our Plan
For government at all levels to promote the ‘circular economy’ including repair, reuse and recycling opportunities, and:
-
Build awareness of possibilities in each of the repair, reuse and recycling sectors to encourage business investment and promote innovation
-
Implement the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 and ensure it is adequately funded and remains fit for purpose
-
Achieve an average 80% recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030 (as set by the 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan) and deliver annual and measurable targets
-
Fund more research and action into technologies for;
-
replacing unnecessary plastic and removal of its waste from the environment
-
recovery of metals from the waste stream
-
developing new battery materials and lithium battery reuse and recycling
-
potential energy generation from waste, including food waste
-
the emerging decommissioning of solar panel waste and support for photo-voltaic recycling facilities
-
developing high-quality resins that are cost-competitive with raw materials
-
Ensure collecting, sorting, processing, treatment and storage of waste is managed efficiently to encourage businesses in the recycling sector
-
Set targets and incentives for recycled material to replace raw materials for manufacturing and refine procurement processes, working with the packaging industry
-
Adopt nationally consistent waste controls, and product labeling to assist consumers
-
Phase out plastics that are difficult to recycle
-
Develop a food waste plan including incentives for donating, better storage and distribution
-
Encourage state and local governments to;
-
achieve consistency in waste collection bin provision, to enable public confidence and correct participation in pre-recycling, and to minimize cross-contamination of materials
-
minimize the volume of waste going into landfill sites by using technology and recycling interchange facilities, and to capture landfill greenhouse emissions
-
Advocate for a national approach to incentive schemes for recyclers, so that the public at the collection end of the process can share the benefits
The Evidence
The research and real-world results that back our plan will be summarised here.
References
-
Commonwealth of Australia ‘Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020’, amended November 2021
-
Commonwealth of Australia (2018) ‘National Waste Policy. Less waste more resources’
-
Department of Climate Change Energy Environment and Water ‘Australia’s Emissions Projections 2023’ November 2023 AusGov
-
CSIRO (2017) ‘The Recycled Plastics Market: Global Analysis and Trends’ eds. Locock, Deane, Kosior, Prabaharan, Skidmore, Hutt.
-
EPA Victoria (2024), ‘Supporting Information for Separation Distance Guideline and Landfill Buffer Guideline’ VicGov
-
The Australia Institute (2024) ‘Plastic Waste in Australia’ Discussion Paper, eds. Anderson, Gbor
-
National Waste Recycling Industry Council (2024) ‘Submission to Senate Standing Committee ’ ‘Waste Management Review’, Monthly journal, Prime Creative Media
-
The Age 12.08.2023 – ‘Slow lane: recycled roads hit hurdle’ Liam Mannix
-
EndFoodWasteAustralia, ‘Annual Report 2023-2024’ November 2024
-
Recycling Victoria, ‘Annual Report 2022-2023’ VicGov
-
Recycling Victoria (2020) ‘Recycling Victoria: A new economy’, VicGov DELWP
-
Green Industries SA (2019) ‘Turning the tide on single-use plastics: next steps’, SA Government
-
The Conversation 14.08.2019 ‘How recycling is actually sorted, and why Australia is quite bad at it’ Jeff Seadon
-
National Waste Policy Action Plan
-
The Recycled Plastics Market: Global Analysis and Trends
Make it happen.
Policies like this only become law when enough people push. Push with us.