Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (18:56): (1776) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Environment in the other place. Victoria is well known as the state that leads the nation on renewables, environmental protection and conservation, especially protection of our beautiful waterways like the Plenty River and Dights Falls right here. From banning native forest logging to some of the most ambitious climate targets anywhere in the world, this government knows that protecting the environment needs to be front of mind in everything we do. That is why I was absolutely thrilled to hear about the recent announcement of the opening of the fourth round of the hazardous waste grants, which are part of this government’s Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund.

This grant, which can be up to $20,000, is available for charities and local councils so they can install the infrastructure required to allow the Victorian community to safely dispose of possibly harmful e-‍waste, which is growing and growing and growing. This funding will primarily be used to upgrade or install the drop-off and transfer stations so that loose batteries and electronics containing embedded batteries can be dropped off. These stations will be located in publicly accessible buildings and community centres so that members of the community can have access whenever they need to drop off and safely dispose of e-waste. We have all got some old devices hanging around home, wondering where they can go. Well, this is the place for them. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage councils and charities who meet the criteria to apply for these grants, so that this increasingly necessary community service can be accessible to more and more Victorians.

We have also seen a recent increase in battery-related fires in garbage trucks and on trains, with faulty e-bike batteries and incorrectly disposed of electronics like vapes to blame. These preventable fires result in some really lengthy clean-ups of dumped rubbish and horrific smells for residents that just linger for a little bit too long, and it can be entirely avoided if batteries are disposed of properly. Giving Victorians a proper avenue to dispose of these batteries benefits both the circular economy and community safety, entirely preventing any future fires. I encourage everyone to get on board with this grant round opening up very soon. This funding is a perfect representation of this government’s commitment to environmental sustainability and encouraging a thriving Victorian circular economy. So my adjournment matter is to ask the Minister for Environment in the other place, the Honourable Steve Dimopoulos, if he will attend a successful applicant’s project completion in my electorate of the Northern Metropolitan Region.