Industry News- Connections December Newsletter 2024

Victorian Government Announces Long Term Recycling Infrastructure Plan

Recycling Victoria has released the states Recycling Infrastructure Plan.  The Victorian Recycling Infrastructure Plan’s (VRIP) purpose is to guide planning and investment in waste, recycling, and resource recovery infrastructure over a 30-year period to support Victoria’s transition to a circular economy. It includes a material stream infrastructure needs analysis, land use planning and environmental approval considerations for infrastructure developments, an overview of the investment environment for supporting infrastructure investment, and the priorities identified by Recycling Victoria for investment for various material streams, including in regional Victoria.

Full details of the Plan can be found at RV_Victorian-Recycling-Infrastructure-Plan-2024.pdf

South Australian government releases circular economy resource recovery report

Green Industries South Australia, the state government’s department responsible for supporting development of the circular economy, has released its annual progress update for 2022-23. The state’s overall materials recovery rate, which measures the percentage of materials that are retrieved and recycled from waste, was estimated at 82.3%, a slight increase on the previous year.

Recovery of e-waste grew from 5.3 tonnes to about 8.2 tonnes, an increase of 40%.

Full details can be found in the report at Circular Economy Resource Recovery Report (CERRR) 2022–23

Review of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act announced

The Australian Government, in line with its legislative obligations, has announced plans and details for the review of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 (the Act). The Act is the primary Commonwealth legislative instrument that supports action on the circular economy, resource recovery and waste management, and along with the Recycling and Waste Reduction (Product stewardship—televisions and computers) Rules 2021 provides the regulatory framework for the National Television Computer Recycling Scheme.

The terms of reference for the review of the Act are:

• the operation of the Act, and
• the extent to which the objects of the Act have been achieved

The Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment and Water has advised there will be opportunities for targeted consultation and engagement as the review progresses.

Review of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act – DCCEEW

Western Australian E-waste Infrastructure Grants Program – Round 2 recipients announced

The Western Australian government has allocated $5.4 million to increase e-waste storage, collection, recycling and processing as part of the second round of its E-waste Infrastructure Grants Program. The funding is provided to support the objectives of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030, which is to recover more valuable resources from waste and to protect the environment by managing waste responsibly, and in coordination with the statewide ban on e-waste disposal to landfill, which became effective on 1 July 2024.

Details of the successful projects can be found at  E-waste recycling receives more than $5 million funding boost | Western Australian Government