Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Recycling Victoria

Report 2022–23

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:25): Tonight I rise to speak on Recycling Victoria’s annual report 2022–23. I am a recycler, and my family ensure that soft plastics are not in the usual recycling bin so as to avoid contamination. We know that contamination is one of the biggest factors that can disrupt the recycling process – for example, if someone throws a broken glass in the bin. It is good practice to remove the lids from glass jars, milk bottles and soft drink containers. It is the small things that make a big difference. I have six children, and when they were at school they were all taught to reduce, re-use and recycle. I say all of this to say that I know how important the work is we are doing in this space.

The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 first came into operation on 1 July 2022. It established its leading director, Recycling Victoria, to provide leadership, stewardship and oversight of waste, recycling of resources and recovery services and to support the development of the circular economy. The establishment of Recycling Victoria is a key initiative of the Victorian government’s circular economy plan, which was released in February 2020, and it will play a leading role in the Allan Labor government’s nation-leading reforms of Victoria’s waste recycling system – reforms that make our system more effective, more accountable and more consistent. It is what our community expects and it is what our community deserves.

Recycling Victoria’s goal of a sustainable future for all Victorians is ongoing. It has many facets. The recycling industry continues to transform. We are responding to changes in international markets to innovate and improve our processes. Recycling Victoria has worked hard to establish an approach that incorporates key values of community and industry engagement. That has taken the form of regular consultation with key stakeholders in local government. I know from my own experience meeting with local councillors one of the first questions I get is about our recycling system. Recycling Victoria has also engaged with our key private sector partners in the waste, resource recovery and recycling sector, including at Recycling Victoria’s local government CEO forum; the resource recovery, recycling and waste industry group, or RRRWIG; the Australian Organics Recycling Association conference; and site visits across the state. This work has ensured that we stay on top of the progress individual businesses and communities are making in our journey towards a circular economy. Just last week I visited Swinburne University and saw the magnificent effort private partnerships are making. For instance, there I met Dr John Stehle, inventor and a director of Robovoid. They use incredible equipment at Swinburne to manufacture new forms of cement structures, including work that is currently contributing to supporting the new transmission poles being built.

The reality is that waste and recycling reforms affect every household in Victoria, and the circular economy act gives Recycling Victoria the toolkit to make those changes, including the big reform of the container deposit scheme. For those watching at home tonight, the container deposit scheme, or CDS, launched today, and it will be vital to transforming Victoria’s waste and recycling system. Recycling Victoria will have oversight and regulation of the CDS. The CDS will reward Victorians with a 10-cent refund for every eligible can, carton and bottle they return. This will mean less waste and litter, hundreds of new jobs, economic opportunities across Victoria and ultimately a cleaner, greener state. It is a win for Victoria’s community, environment and economy, and it is great news for my community of Southern Metro. There will be over 600 refund points in Victoria. Returned containers will be given a new lease on life, with the material being recycled and manufactured into new products. This will save it from landfill and littering the environment. The CDS will target the beverage containers that are the most common contributors to litter. That includes soft plastic drink bottles, glass beer bottles, cans of soft drink and alcohol and small fruit juice cartons, all of which are typically consumed away from home. A complete list of eligible containers can be found on the scheme’s website, which I urge my community to check out.

To wrap up tonight, I commend Recycling Victoria for their great work in contributing to a cleaner, greener future. I was at the announcement of the container deposit scheme a few months back with the former Minister for Environment Minister Stitt, and I am planning to be there for the long haul. I look forward to working with Recycling Victoria and my community of Southern Metro to help with its rollout. These reforms would not have been possible without strong leadership from Minister Stitt and now Minister Dimopoulos in the other place. Only the Allan Labor government has a plan for a greener, cleaner future, and I am excited to be part of it.