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Report: Inquiry Into the Management of Australia's Waste Streams

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Report: Inquiry Into the Management of Australia's Waste Streams The Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts Management of Australia's Waste Streams (including consideration of the Drink Container Recycling Bill 2008) September 2008 © Commonwealth of Australia 2008 ISBN 978-0-642-71960-7 This document was printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra Committee membership Members to 30 June 2008 Senator Anne McEwen (ALP, SA) (Chair) Senator Andrew Bartlett (AD, QLD) (Deputy Chair) Senator Simon Birmingham (LP, SA) Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp (LP, VIC) Senator Kate Lundy (ALP, ACT) Senator Stephen Parry (LP, TAS) Senator Ruth Webber (ALP, WA) Senator Dana Wortley (ALP, SA) Members from 1 July 2008 Senator Anne McEwen (ALP, SA) (Chair) Senator Simon Birmingham (LP, SA) (Deputy Chair from 6 August 2008) Senator Scott Ludlam (AG, WA) Senator Kate Lundy (ALP, ACT) Senator Stephen Parry (LP, TAS) Senator Louise Pratt (ALP, WA) Senator John Williams (NP, NSW) Senator Dana Wortley (ALP, SA) Participating Members participating in this inquiry Senator Steve Fielding (FF, VIC) Committee secretariat Mr Stephen Palethorpe, Inquiry Secretary Ms Jane Thomson, Senior Research Officer Ms Katie Meyers, Executive Assistant Mrs Dianne Warhurst, Executive Assistant Ms Margaret Cahill, Executive Assistant Committee address PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Tel: 02 6277 3526 Fax: 02 6277 5818 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/index.htm iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Committee membership ..................................................................................iii Acronyms and abbreviations .......................................................................... ix Recommendations ............................................................................................ xi Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................. 1 Background to the inquiry .......................................................................... 1 The committee's approach........................................................................... 1 Conduct of the inquiry ................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgement ...................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2 - Trends in waste production in Australia.................................... 7 Waste generation is increasing.................................................................... 7 Drivers of waste generation .................................................................... 9 Increasing complexity and toxicity of waste ........................................ 10 Continued reliance on landfill............................................................... 11 Increasing rate of recycling................................................................... 12 Deficient information on waste................................................................. 12 International comparisons......................................................................... 13 Waste streams ........................................................................................... 13 Municipal waste .................................................................................... 15 Commercial and industrial waste.......................................................... 17 Construction and demolition waste....................................................... 19 Economic, social and environmental impacts of waste ............................ 19 Economic impacts................................................................................. 20 Social impacts ....................................................................................... 21 Environmental impacts ......................................................................... 22 Greenhouse gas emissions ................................................................ 22 Natural resource depletion ................................................................ 24 Water consumption ........................................................................... 26 Leachate contamination .................................................................... 26 Chapter 3 - The effectiveness of current waste management strategies.... 29 Existing waste management strategies...................................................... 29 Landfill...................................................................................................... 31 Landfill levies ........................................................................................... 35 Hypothecation ........................................................................................... 37 Resource efficiency................................................................................... 38 Municipal waste ........................................................................................ 42 Community engagement ....................................................................... 42 Kerbside recycling ................................................................................ 45 Glass contamination.............................................................................. 46 Away-from-home recycling.................................................................. 49 Commercial and industrial waste.............................................................. 52 Construction and demolition waste........................................................... 54 Pricing externalities................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4 - Potential new waste management strategies............................ 57 Establishing a national resource efficiency strategy................................. 57 Fundamental principles of a national strategic framework................... 61 Resource efficiency........................................................................... 61 Waste hierarchy................................................................................. 62 Sustainability..................................................................................... 63 User pays, cost-reflective pricing ..................................................... 64 Improving waste data................................................................................ 64 Infrastructure............................................................................................. 67 Organic waste management ...................................................................... 68 Alternative Waste Technology ................................................................. 74 Landfill cap and trade schemes................................................................. 76 Chapter 5 - Extended Producer Responsibility ........................................... 79 What is Extended Producer Responsibility?............................................. 79 National Extended Producer Responsibility initiatives ............................ 84 Oil.......................................................................................................... 87 Consumer packaging............................................................................. 90 Beverage containers .............................................................................. 93 South Australia container deposit legislation ................................... 94 Drink Container Recycling Bill 2008 ............................................... 96 Newsprint.............................................................................................. 98 Tyres...................................................................................................... 99 E-waste................................................................................................ 101 Compact fluorescent lamps................................................................. 105 Family First - Dissenting Report ................................................................. 107 Inquiry into the Management of Australia's Waste Streams ..................... 107 What happens in Australia now? ............................................................ 108 How drink container recycling works..................................................... 109 Success in South Australia...................................................................... 111 Cutting greenhouse gases........................................................................ 112 Family First's Drink Container Recycling Bill 2008 .............................. 113 Extended producer responsibility ........................................................... 114 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 115 Appendix 1 - Submissions ............................................................................ 117 Appendix 2 - Public hearings....................................................................... 121 Appendix 3 - Tabled documents, additional information and answers to questions taken on notice.............................................................................. 127 Acronyms and abbreviations ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics AWD Australian Waste Database AWT Alternative Waste Technology CDL Container deposit legislation CDS Container deposit system or container deposit scheme C&D Construction and demolition C&I Commercial and industrial CFL Compact fluorescent
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