The NSW Government’s actions to address the waste and resource recovery infrastructure challenge facing the state are a step in the right direction, with the urgent development of an infrastructure plan, the review of the waste levy and finalisation of a battery product stewardship scheme, Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) CEO Gayle Sloan said today.
“Today we heard that Sydney is running out of landfill space; this is not news to the waste and resource recovery (WARR) industry. What is welcome news is government acknowledging this and committing to address it,” Ms Sloan said.
“There is currently 7.7 million tonnes of residual waste in NSW going to landfill each year, much of which could be avoided or recovered – and the Environment Protection Authority predicts overall waste volumes to increase by 16 million tonnes over the next two (2) decades,” she said.
“WMRR applauds the Government’s actions to address the impending waste and resource recovery infrastructure deficit because it is only with increased resource recovery capacity and demand for recycled materials that the state has any hope of meeting its 80% resource recovery target by 2030.
“Getting the infrastructure plan in place is key as it will confirm NSW’s commitment to recover more materials and transition to a circular economy, providing certainty for private sector investment.
“As part of this work, it is vital that we also get the economic and regulatory settings correct. We need to keep valuable materials out of landfill and circulating, reducing the reliance on virgin materials and unlocking the billions of dollars in investment (and jobs) that we need in NSW to recover these valuable resources.
“Key to all this are markets for the materials we recover. There is an opportunity for the NSW Government to lead the way by mandating the use of local recycled content in major government contracts.
“WMRR also urges the NSW Government to continue working on plans for a mandatory battery product stewardship scheme. Just this past week alone in Sydney we have seen several fires caused by batteries in our collection vehicles.
“We welcome the Minister’s commitment again today that NSW will go it alone in 2025 if needs be to address this problem, but we really hope all states will act urgently on an issue that is threatening the viability of our industry and the safety of our workers.” she said.
ABOUT WMRR
The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) is the national peak body representing Australia’s $17 billion waste and resource recovery (WARR) industry. With more than 2,200 members from over 400 entities nationwide, we represent the breadth and depth of the sector, including representation from business organisations, the three (3) tiers of government, universities, and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), including research bodies.
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