Roger Jaensch,Minister for the Environment
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is getting on with our clear plan to reduce waste and build a circular economy in Tasmania.
In June 2019 we released a draft Waste Action Plan which highlighted this Government’s priorities in relation to waste management and resource recovery, including key deliverables and targets.
Today, we released the Waste Initiatives Progress Report, which outlines the significant work being undertaken by our Government to implement these important initiatives.
Specifically, the report highlights our critical work towards implementing a Container Refund Scheme in Tasmania. We are committed to delivering a scheme that is convenient and accessible to all Tasmanians and maximises the number of containers returned and recycled rather than ending up as litter or in landfill.
Significant work is being put into designing the best possible scheme for Tasmania and I look forward to tabling legislation in the coming weeks.
Additionally, the progress report highlights the improvements we are making in the management of organic waste.
Too much organic waste is still ending up in landfill. That’s why we are investing $4.5 million to improve organic waste reprocessing capacity across our State and help us reach our target to reduce the volume of organic waste sent to landfill by 50 per cent by 2030.
And importantly, we remain committed to introducing a consistent State-wide Waste Levy to encourage the diversion of waste from landfill and drive investment in the circular economy.
A number of these initiatives were funded in the 2020-2021 Tasmanian State Budget, others were announced during this year’s election, including:
- support for the development of a state-of-the-art in-vessel composting facility in Northern Tasmania;
- support for the commencement of work toward delivering an organic waste solution in the South;
- introduction of crumbed rubber from end-of-life tyres into our State Road Resurfacing Program from 1 July 2022; and
- $3 million to partner with industry to establish a commercial crumbed rubber plant in Tasmania.
As can be seen, by the work underway and our new commitments, we are getting on with the job of delivering the benefits of a circular economy for Tasmania, building confidence and growth in the recycling and resource recovery sector, whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in our environment.
I look forward to continuing working in partnership with local government and industry on actions to achieve these goals and secure Tasmania’s future.
The full progress report can be found here:
