New national data confirms Australia is making strides in resource recovery, driven by the efficiency and economic value of metals.
The country’s overall resource recovery rate has surged to 66 per cent of its 75.6 million tonnes of waste from the 49 per cent recorded in 2006-07.
The data, released in the National Waste and Resource Recovery Database 2024 by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), and analysed by Independent Steel Company, positions metal as the leader of Australia’s circular economy efforts.
Metals achieved an 89.9 per cent recovery rate in 2022–23, making it the most successfully recovered material category nationallly.
According to the Australian Steel Institute, the recovery rate is due to the material’s properties: metals can be recycled endlessly while maintaining their strength and quality. Unlike many other materials, steel and other metals do not degrade with each cycle, ensuring they retain strong commodity worth and sustain well-established scrap markets.
Disparity in waste streams
While the national figure is strong, the data reveals a disparity across waste streams, highlighting where focused intervention is needed:
Construction and demolition (C&D) and commercial and industrial (C&I) streams have metal recovery rates of nearly 95 per cent and 93 per cent, respectively, demonstrating the strength of industrial scrap markets handling cleaner material flows.
Metal recovery from household bins lags at 72 per cent.
South Australia: The national benchmark
When examining regional performance, South Australia continues its decade-long leadership in metal recovery, achieving 95.6 per cent in 2022–23. It is closely followed by New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, which both posted recovery rates above 90 per cent.
South Australia’s success is attributed to a consistent, decades-long policy framework, including the early introduction of its Container Deposit Scheme (in 1977), ongoing investment in local reprocessing facilities (with 86 per cent of recovered materials processed locally), and strong landfill fees that reinforce scrap as a valuable resource.
The report highlights that if all states and territories matched South Australia’s 95.6 per cent recovery rate, Australia could have recovered an extra 344,603 tonnes of metal in the reporting year.
Closing the gap to 2030 goals
To meet the national goal of an 80 per cent overall resource recovery rate by 2030, collaboration is essential. Bridging the recovery gap in metal alone will keep hundreds of thousands of tonnes of valuable scrap in a closed-loop system, reducing emissions from mining and raw material processing.
The success of the metal sector proves that when robust economic drivers are supported by smart policy and strong infrastructure, a truly circular economy is achievable.
The next step requires government, industry, and communities to work together to ensure all materials are safely recovered, reused, and kept in the economy for longer.
Related stories:
EPA Tasmania approves new metal recycling facility
ASI calls for ban on unprocessed ferrous scrap metal exports
