The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) welcomes the Queensland Government’s $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund.
The fund aims to support increased household recycling, help build new resource recovery infrastructure, and create more jobs in resource recovery and remanufacturing.
Suzanne Toumbourou, ACOR Chief Executive Officer said the funding highlights the importance and benefits of reinvesting waste disposal levies in recycling and resource recovery.
“This funding package acknowledges our industry’s power to deliver so many benefits: from job generation and diversion from landfill, to helping protect the Great Barrier Reef from plastic pollution,” Toumbourou said.
“To unlock the full potential of recycling, we need strong domestic end-markets for recycled products. We look forward to working with the Queensland Government to ensure uptake for recycled materials through the supply chain.”
Announcing the fund earlier this week, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said it was the largest investment in waste management and recycling in Queensland’s history.
“We have set ambitious targets for recycling because we want to see 80 per cent of all waste streams diverted from landfill by 2030. Our recovery rate currently sits at 54 per cent, so the next decade will be critical to our success.
“Queensland’s recycling and resource recovery industries contribute $1.5 billion to the state economy each year and already support almost 12,000 jobs. We want to see even more jobs for Queenslanders and the $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund sends a strong signal that Queensland welcomes investment in innovative, job-creating businesses.”
Scanlon said the fund will offer co-investment opportunities for councils and industry to leverage this new money to help transform Queensland’s approach to waste management and resource recovery.
For more information, visit: https://www.acor.org.au/media.html
