There is a lot of news about individual companies innovating, developing and introducing new initiatives and as an industry we should be very proud of that. But is this innovation making much of a difference compared to the challenges we face? Not much if truth be told, says Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group Managing Director.
At best we are holding our own against a flood of waste, rising industrial emissions and stagnating recycling rates.
Why? Because governments are not innovating at the same rate that private companies are. In fact, governments across Australia are seriously lagging the demands of industry for reform.
How many parliamentary inquiries do we need to have before we will see some serious structural reform in the waste/recycling/circular economy space?
How many government “discussion papers” do we need to read, full of “motherhood and apple pie” statements of intent, but with no substance and no actionable reform.
Here are some basic facts which every minister should be aware of:
1. No government will achieve the National Waste Targets for 2030 based on current policy settings:
a. 80 per cent diversion from landfill.
b. 50 per cent reduction in organics to landfill.
c. 10 per cent reduction in per capita waste generation.
2. South Australia will go the closest with its construction and demolition (C&D) sector and possibly commercial and industrial (C&I) achieving the 80 per cent diversion figure. Western Australia may go close with municipal solid waste (MSW) as the new incinerators fire up. (Yes, that is counted in the 80 per cent).
3. No government will achieve the 50 per cent reduction in organics to landfill.
4. No government will reduce per capita waste generation. In fact, since the 2019 announcement of the National Waste Policy, per capita waste generation has grown by two per cent (rather than falling by 10 per cent).
5. National aggregated recycling rates have stagnated at 60 per cent of waste generation for at least five years. We are swamped by growth in waste generation.
The challenge is for governments to get back onto the reform bus.
There have been some rays of sunshine, so rather than be too critical, let’s start with some positives:
Levy – Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania have announced further increases in the landfill levy in real terms. That creates the economic environment for investment. They explain the investment in C&D processing but are not high enough yet for C&I processing or most Commercial Food collection.
Higher levies shift the behaviour of waste generators, although hypothecation increases would be a bonus.
Organics – Many governments have mandated three-bin Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) for household waste. That is a good start, but it is not enough.
The recovery rate for MSW food is still about 60 per cent compared to 90 per cent plus for garden waste.
A big acknowledgement to New South Wales, which has mandated commercial food collection to start July 2025. Other states need to follow.
Energy-from-Waste – Western Australia has two shiny new incinerators coming on line. Hopefully they will show the Australian community that incineration is a viable and responsible alternative for the disposal of truly residual waste. And I mean residual waste after the recyclables have been extracted including all organics.
So, three-bin systems (recycling, FOGO and MSW) plus additional pre-sorting, should be mandatory precursors of incineration. Again, a big acknowledgement to New South Wales.
If we are going to achieve the National Waste Targets, we will need to recover an additional 18 million tonnes (MT) per year, on top of the 40 MT we are recycling now. The gap is already 11 MT on where we need to be. That gap will grow with population growth and per capita consumption growth between now and 2030.
Put simply we are treading water at best and going backwards at worst.
The thing that really upsets me about the slowness of reform is the missed opportunities for cheap and easy emissions abatement.
Image: MRA Consulting Group
We are sleepwalking towards climate chaos. The waste/recycling/circular economy sector offers enormous greenhouse gas abatement opportunities that are largely unrecognised.
Go to most greenhouse reports and you will see that “waste” represents three per cent of Australia’s direct emissions. For that reason, it is largely ignored.
But what those direct emissions don’t tell you is that the waste sector can reduce EVERYBODY else’s emissions.
The embodied energy stored in an aluminium can, a car body, a plastic bottle, cardboard etc all contribute to reducing the emissions in the industrial sector (not the “waste” sector). These savings go unrecognised re policy reform.
It frustrates me senseless.
The sector can easily abate more than 10 per cent of Australia’s total emissions. And yet we ignore it.
What do we need to do?
1. Stop landfilling organics (10MT of current emissions).
2. Capture all the gas from landfills (11MT of legacy emissions per year).
3 EfW of residual waste – offsetting at least 10 MT of coal emissions.
4. Embodied energy – through better recycling (10 MT at least).
5. Circular economy – savings in manufacture (gazillions of tonnes; currently unmeasured).
6. Sequestration – of compost and biochar in soil (estimated 100 MT/year or higher).
Our policy makers have not realised the potential or seen the jobs and abatement opportunities.
What do all governments need to do (and this is a minimalist list):
Investment
1. Increase the levy in real terms and forward announce those increases.
2. Take the levy and grants to a level that gets us the infrastructure we need to hit the targets.
3. Release infrastructure plans to guide investment.
Organics
5. Mandate three-bin FOGO.
6. Mandate Commercial Food (COFO) separation.
7. Ban organics to landfill (including cardboard, pallets and wood).
8. Set new minimum standards for FOGO contamination.
Landfills
9. Mandate gas capture and flaring at all landfills above say 5kt carbon dioxide equivalent per year (CO2-e/yr) emissions.
10. Set minimum operating standards for all landfills and apply a levy to all (even if it is a differential levy)
Markets
11. Amend the export bans to make them export quality standards (we need the overseas markets).
12. Set higher standards for FOGO compost so we don’t wreck the existing markets.
13. Accelerate research and development funding to grow domestic markets.
Recycling
14. Kerbside Recycling – standardise yellow bin materials.
15. Packaging – national mandatory EPR scheme, eco-modulated levy, recycled content and bans on non-recyclable materials.
16. Container Deposit Scheme – increase rebate to at least 20 cents and include wine and spirits.
17. EPR – make all schemes mandatory to eliminate the free-rider problems and expand to a wider range of products.
Circular Economy
18. Legislate the “right to repair”.
19. Develop a circular economy plan that has force (not just motherhood statements).
It is not hard to do but it does require government ministers to tell their departments that they want reform. It requires us to tell ministers (loudly) that we demand reform. It will not happen by osmosis or business as usual.
For more information, contact: info@mraconsulting.com.au
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