Western Australians are being urged have their say on the state’s new waste strategy.
WA Environment Minister Stephen Dawson called on the community, industry and local governments to participate in a series of workshops being held throughout WA in February as part of the strategy’s consultation process.
The workshops will launch in Perth on February 1, 2018 with subsequent sessions in Albany, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland and Geraldton. There will be three workshops in Perth.
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The consultation paper, which is open for public comment, looks at opportunities to improve Western Australia’s waste and recycling performance which the government said is lagging behind that of other Australian states.
In 2014-15, on average each Western Australian generated 2623 kilograms of waste – the second highest rate of waste generation in Australia per capita and 17 per cent above the average of other states and territories.
The new targets proposed by the strategy will bring Western Australia’s waste and recycling performance in line with other Australian jurisdictions.
For more information and to register for a workshop go to the Waste Authority’s website.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said reducing the amount of waste to landfill can generate significant economic opportunities for the Western Australian community.
“For every 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled, 9.2 full time equivalent jobs are created compared to only 2.8 jobs when waste is landfilled,” he said.
“We want to engage widely with the community, industry and local governments to help make Western Australia a sustainable low-waste society which values and protects people’s health and the environment.”
“These workshops provide an opportunity for all of us to work together to achieve greater environmental outcomes, create employment and build businesses.”