NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK

Stephen Bromhead, David Gillespie visit Valley Industries to learn about their plastics recycling

There is a lot to celebrate this National Recycling Week with the Australian Government making 2020 the year that Australia took unprecedented responsibility for its own waste.

Federal Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie said the Government is driving a $1 billion in investment in Australia’s waste and recycling industries, creating more than 10,000 jobs and diverting over 10 million tonnes of waste away from landfill.

“Recycling is firmly on the national agenda this year with the Government’s export ban on waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres,” Dr Gillespie said.

Dr Gillespie said, shortly the landmark Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 is expected to pass through Parliament, providing a national framework for recycling and waste, improving our waste management and recycling practices presented by the export ban.

The waste export ban is the first of its kind in the world and provides a new blueprint for how countries around the globe can deal with their waste.

“This will not only change the way Australia manages its own waste but also change the way we think about waste, seeing it as a resource to be continually remanufactured into new products, rather than a problem to be just sent to landfill,” Dr Gillespie said.

Valley Industries, Taree are just one local business who are actively involved in waste recycling and manufacturing initiatives and I am excited to work with CEO Trent Jennison to explore funding initiatives like the $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund that will leverage over $600 million for new recycling infrastructure across the country.

“We know that reinvigorating our recycling capacity is not just great for our local environment—it’s also an opportunity to create jobs – with nine jobs created for every 10,000 tonnes of material recycled, compared to just three jobs when material is sent to landfill,” Dr Gillespie said.

“Australia’s recycling rate is currently 60 per cent, so there is much more to be done if we want to hit our 2030 target of recycling 80% of all our waste by 2030.”

For more information about National Recycling Week and how you can get involved, head to Planet Ark’s website at: https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/nationalrecyclingweek/