www.insidewaste.com.au
ISSUE 110 | OCT/NOV 2022
INSIDE 28 34 44
New NSW EPA CEO IPART and the DWMC Waste Awards Finalists
Should wine and spirit bottles be added to CDS list?
Defining the circular economy Was it the same as resource recovery? Not necessarily. For Sloan, it’s not just about what happens at end of use, she said that if you want a truly circular economy it needs to be thought about differently and start at the beginning, what material we select, how we can re-use, repair and refurbish and how we set up systems to do this. “It’s not about waste. It is changing that paradigm away from waste, which is almost too late to start in the chain,” she said. “We’re not doing anything around consumption or design. If I hear one more time how well we’re doing on that – consumption/sales etc – I’ll cry. “We need to look at the start of the supply chain, putting obligations on people to design out waste and pollution – having to think differently. We need to start having a national Circular Economy strategy, as opposed to a national waste
strategy. If we can start thinking about how we drive change and circularity we would go gangbusters over the next 84 months when we need to have 80 per cent diversion in waste and hit our 43 per cent emissions reduction target.” Is there any legislation in place that currently addresses what a circular economy is, what its parameters are, and how it needs to be implemented to get the best outcome for everybody? The short answer is no. “We do have a federal piece of legislation called the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020,” said Smith. “And that does have an objective in it, which requires the development of a circular economy that maximises the continued use of products and waste material over their life cycle and accounts for their environmental impacts. (Continued on page 22)
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
WHAT is the circular economy? What is its definition? What does it encompass? Does it mean different things to different people? Is there any legislation giving a definition of what it is? At the recent Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo (AWRE) held in Sydney, one of the more popular seminars was titled Legislative and Regulatory Reform for Achieving a Circular Economy. South Sydney Regional Organisation of Council’s strategic lead for resource recovery, Justin Bonsey, hosted the event. He was joined by panellists Gayle Sloan CEO of Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR), Claire Smith, environmental lawyer from Clayton Utz, and Nancy Chang, the NSW EPA’s executive director regulatory policy, initiatives and advice. One of the starting points was defining the term circular economy.
WHEN the Victorian and Tasmanian governments get their respective container deposit schemes (CDS) in place in 2023, all states and territories will have a system in place whereby consumers can return their empty cans and bottles. However, now is the time to take it one step further, according to some. Generally, most CDSs accept drink containers including plastic, canned and glass soft drink bottles, in some cases (the ACT being one) cardboard drink containers, and beer bottles. Missing from the equation are wine/ spirit bottles, plastic milk bottles and cartons, as well as generic plastic and glass jars like those found housing preservatives such as sauces, jams and other spreads. A who’s who of recycling recently signed an open letter asking the state and territorial environmental ministers, as well as their federal counterpart, to start including wine and spirit bottles in the CDSs around the country. Signatories of the letter included the Boomerang Alliance’s Jeff Angel, Reloop Pacific’s Rob Kelman, the Australian Beverages Council’s Geoff Parker, the National Retailers Association’s David Stout, Australian Council of Recycling’s Suzanne Toumbourou, and WMRR’s Gayle Sloan. The letter stated: “Our groups are writing to you to support government action to include wine and spirit bottles in the Container Refund Schemes. (Continued on page 24)
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