Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Tim READ (Brunswick) (09:57): I wish I had the member for Bulleen’s talent for performance, but sadly, I do not. I promise that I feel all the passion, and I do not know how it is connected, but I am suddenly talking about greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste – organic waste being the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gas from Victorian landfills. There is no reason for organics to be going to landfill when we have other solutions like composting. In 2022–23 easily recoverable materials like organics, paper and cardboard, metals, plastics and glass made up more than – get this number – 3 million tonnes of Victoria’s landfill waste. This was the majority of Victoria’s total landfill waste, with the remaining 1.3 million tonnes made up mostly of soil and other construction waste. Meanwhile, Victoria’s annual waste incineration cap has just been lifted for the second time to 2.5 million tonnes per year. I hope people are keeping track of these numbers, because they do not add up. If Labor was serious about its rhetoric on building a circular economy, it would quickly realise that if we reduced waste, used our four streams properly and improved commercial and industrial recycling, there would not be much left to burn. And considering Victoria’s planned incinerators lock councils into decades-long contracts, meaning financial penalties for ratepayers if they do not provide the required quantities of waste, it is clear we are going in the wrong direction. (Time expired)