G'day, eco-warriors! 🌿 It's time for another dive into the world of waste reduction. This time, we're taking a bird's-eye view of how Australia, as a nation, is progressing against the National Waste Policy Action Plan. Grab your reusable coffee cup and settle in for a read!
But first: I understand that adding my voice to campaigns and advocating for change (collective action👯) can be more impactful than reducing my family's waste. But that isn't stopping me from taking individual actions (especially in high-income nations like Australia, where the combined impact of individual actions are baked into our National waste action plan). Every step we take on this journey matters. Want to read more about my reflections on our Mid Green journey so far and what 'collective action' looks like? Check out the post: A Year of Climate Hope: Reflecting on Our Journey to Net-Zero (midgreenfamily.com).
Australia's Waste Odyssey
Australia has come a long way in its efforts to tackle the mounting waste crisis🗑️. Our convenience-led "throwaway" culture has contributed to overflowing landfills, plastic-choked oceans, and a significant environmental burden. In recent years, our nation has shifted gears towards a more sustainable future, with big steps still to go.
While there are success in the Report (successfully phased out plastic microbeads), there is also a way to go on some things which should be easy (like FOGO bins or composting). Read on for a summary of Australia's waste progress.
The National Waste Policy Action Plan: A Roadmap to Change
Today I'm breaking down Australia's progress against each of our National waste targets. I'm keen to hear if you were aware of any of these policies or campaigns, and if most people realised they are part of the Government's plan! With reducing organic waste (not sending our food and garden scraps to landfill) and a reduction in rubbish per person baked into our targets.
The National Waste Policy Action Plan, (which covers 2019 to 2030) is our guiding star⭐ on this journey and has 7 Targets. This document lays out the framework to address waste challenges and emphasizes a circular economy approach.
It focuses on three main objectives:
Reducing Waste
Increasing recycling and
Safely managing waste
Target 1 commenced in the second half of 2020. This target was driven by China's decision to stop taking waste for recycling that contained more than 0.5% contaminates (too many other non-recyclables mixed in). The positive impact of China's decision is Australia had to do something about its own waste and not send it out of sight, out of mind. The Government's national Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF) has supported 78 new and upgraded infrastructure projects for recycling onshore.
In the fine print - we still send glass, plastic and tires offshore, but they are now regulated (and licensed). Glass and tires have to be processed here first, and plastic has to be sorted into single types of plastic (not mixed plastic) ready for recycling. Paper and cardboard will be regulated from 1 July 2024.
Target 2 includes reducing single-use plastics, curbing food waste, and promoting product stewardship. Reducing our waste by 10% per person (from 2016/17 levels) means cutting our rubbish generation by 300 kg per person each year. Reducing total volumes recycled, or sent to landfill.
I'm not sure how many folks know they are meant to be doing this🤷♀️ but see the list of initiatives below the Government is reporting on. It's not clear how much these independent organisations are being funded for this and tbh I haven't even heard of most of these so the education may or may not be cutting through - let me know if you've seen these campaigns in action.
A national roadmap for reducing Australia’s food waste by half by 2030.
Stop Food Waste Australia was established. An independent partnership working across the food supply chain - farm-to-fork.
OzHarvest undertook research and developed the ‘Use It Up’ campaign.
Planet Ark established the Australian Circular Economy Hub – a website for circular economy inspiration, education and implementation in Australia. ⬅️would prefer investment in facilities to support extraction and re-use
Productivity Commission completed an inquiry into the ‘Right to Repair’ and "found that increasing consumer access to product repairs would increase the useful life of products and reduce waste." insightful🤦♀️
APCO delivered the industry Action Plan for Problematic and Unnecessary Single-Use Plastic Packaging, presenting a pathway for industry to shift from single-use disposable plastic packaging to more durable, reusable, and recyclable packaging that will support delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets ⬅️this I can get behind 👏👏
We're at 63.1% (against the 80% target), which has only gone up 2.2% since FY17.
Resource recovery is super important. After avoiding waste (by not using packaging or new stuff in the first place) this is super important for the protection of natural resources.
This target is about "improving recycling infrastructure and practices" which the Government is doing by "supporting manufacturers to take more responsibility for the entire lifecycle of the products they produce and sell, particularly at end of life". More of this👏.
They've awarded 23 grants in the last 2 years under the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund (NPSIF) for a collective $17.5 million to tackle product waste like soft plastics, child car seats, mattresses and bedding, coffee capsules, mobile phones and more. These are expected to divert 1.5 million tonnes of waste from landfill.
Other initiatives under this target have included:
a levy on the import of hand-held batteries from the Battery Stewardship Council.
Australasian Recycling Label (ARL): More supermarket products now carry the ARL, aiding households in proper packaging disposal and recycling. Over 600 brand owners are part of the ARL Program, with ongoing expansion (check the pic below).
'Check it before you chuck it' Campaign: APCO and Planet Ark's campaign urges Australians to check for the ARL on packaging to determine recyclability.
National Compostable Packaging Strategy: APCO, with AORA and ABA, developed a strategy for environmentally sustainable compostable packaging♻️.
Recovered Polymer Specifications: APCO's ANZPAC initiative established standard specifications for recycled polymer materials, supporting a circular economy in plastics and achievement of 2025 targets.
This has increased by 15%. Not bad.
If we want our recycling targets to be met, we have to also invest in markets for those recycled products. This goal is very complementary to Target 3, with the actions taken in the last two years looking pretty lame. Webinars and videos? I was hoping for mandated reuse content similar to local content targets or other procurement targets and standards that exist. NOW THAT would drive change. Here is the list of 'achievements':
The Commonwealth Sustainable Procurement Advocacy & Resource Centre released a toolkit to help Australian Government staff integrate recycled content and environmental sustainability into procurement.🤦♀️ They created Model Clauses for environmental sustainability in government approach-to-market documents and procurement contracts.
Educational Webinars: They conducted 5 masterclass webinars, focusing on practical sustainable procurement principles with insights from various organizations. I'm almost embarrassed to write this 'achievement' for the nation.
Online Industry Videos: The center produced 19 online industry videos featuring products made from recycled materials, garnering over 14,700 views, 0.057% of the population - did you see it?
WA's Roads to Reuse Project: Highlighted opportunities for using recycled construction and demolition products in transport infrastructure projects.
Victoria's Recycled First Policy: Requires prioritizing recycled and reused materials in new transport infrastructure projects, driving innovation and diverting substantial waste from landfills. ⭐
Plastics are the WORST. They pollute our environment and oceans, and it takes loads of energy and chemicals (including production of hazardous wastes) to make them and plastic-based products.
We now have a National Plastics Plan👏👏, which outlines a strategy for addressing plastic pollution throughout its lifecycle.
All States have agreed to phase out 8 problematic single-use plastic products by 2025, (lightweight shopping bags, degradable plastics, plastic straws, utensils, bowls, plates, EPS food containers, EPS packaging, and microbeads). We've already seen some of this in action but if its still around, don't buy it.
Industry has successfully phased out plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetic and cleaning products, with 99.3% now free of these materials❣️⭐.
The Environment Restoration Fund supports community groups in cleaning up coastlines and rivers, with projects like Conservation Volunteers Australia aiming for 10,000 volunteer engagements in clean-up events.
New national legislation, the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Bill 2021, was established to manage the environmental risks of industrial chemicals, to be implemented by each jurisdiction. This is helpful to prevent industrial waste.
Each of the State's have their own plans - I've mentioned WA's in previous posts by South Australia actually were the first to lead the way in banning and restricting problematic single-use plastics.
Unfortunately, we've actually increased the amount of organic (food and green) waste sent to landfill by 3% when the plan is to halve it by 2030. For many households, this is key to actually achieving Target 2 - reducing waste per person. The easiest way to achieve this is just by composting or effectively using your green bin - which may not be an option for everyone. If its not an option for you, I've posted before about asking your council to bring in FOGO (Food Organics & Garden Waste) recycling and signing a petition here (it takes literally one minute of your time). Otherwise, it isn't mandatory for all councils until 2030.
So what has been done here according to the report?
FOGO Kerbside collection services have expanded across households and businesses (we want more⬆️♻️🥬). South Australia's FOGO systems covers over 80% of their population. All FOGO studies have proven this to be immensely effective in diverting organic matter from landfill AND saving councils money (for landfill charges).
Stop Food Waste Australia initiated the Australian Food Pact, a voluntary commitment program involving the food supply chain to reduce food waste.
The national Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund was established to support recycling infrastructure, producing high-quality recycled organic products for soil use❣️♻️👏.
Various State's have run their own programs, like NSW's 'Scrap Together' campaign, based on bin audits and research, increased food waste recycling by an average of 10%.
Super critical is to have the data to back up our progress, inform policy and drive manufacturers, industry and individuals to do the right thing to meet our targets.
The National Waste Report (started in 2020) is our trash report card, telling us how we're doing in the waste and recycling department. We get official data on how much waste we generate, how much we recover, and how much we recycle.
In 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics gave us an experimental National Waste Account. It's like the financial report of waste. It shows us how much waste moves between different parts of our economy and how we're using recycled stuff. It's like counting all the coins in our recycling piggy bank! 💰🏦
The Government has been standardizing and harmonizing data across the country - this is critical to stop misinformation or differences in reporting and actions.
Together, We Can Turn the Tide!
Australia's journey towards a sustainable future is underway, but we need all hands-on deck. By collectively taking action at the individual, governmental, and industrial levels, we can steer our nation towards a waste-smart and environmentally friendly tomorrow. Let's keep up the good work and be the change our planet needs. 🌏✨
The summarized National Waste Progress Report above was for the 2021 year, with progress reports released each two years. You can also check out the interactive waste viewer at Waste and Resource Recovery Data Hub - National waste data viewer - DCCEEW
References:
National Waste Policy Action Plan
Plastic Bag Bans in Australia
Container Deposit Schemes
E-Waste Recycling
Food Waste Reduction Initiatives
Circular Economy in Australia
Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Please consult with relevant authorities or experts for specific waste management guidance.
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