Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I'm happy to speak on the Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 and the amendment moved by the member for Fremantle. In the time remaining I could sum it up for those who want the Reader's Digest version, because it's been said by all those who spoke before me—personally—we need to reduce, reuse and recycle. That's the simple message. But obviously government, in a Federation with states and territories and local government, is much more complicated and takes lot of leadership.

I'd also draw people's attention to a recent Four Corners that focused on plastics and many of the innovations, trials and tribulations that've taken place in the United States in terms of what needs to occur. There are some scary things that're going on out there basically in terms of big plastics commitment to increase the use of plastic whilst we've got schools, we've got local governments, we've got farmers, we've got individuals, we've got so many people that are making that personal effort to reduce the amount of waste they create, to reuse the waste they can't avoid and to recycle those products into useful materials wherever possible. On that level much good is occurring, but we do have greed and, I would have to say, a government that isn't as strong in this area as they could be. This government is now in its eighth year of government but we haven't seen the leadership that we need when it comes to waste and recycling.

At the last election Labor took a commitment to introduce a national container deposit scheme. We know how that has changed things in Queensland. I heard the member for Adelaide talk about how South Australia had been a leader. I know that in Queensland we saw the recycle fee available in South Australia. I saw that when I was a kid 30, 40, 50 years ago. Queensland eventually, under Premier Palaszczuk, did bring in a scheme and what have we seen? Lo and behold, there is suddenly value in waste and the behaviour has changed. Now I see all sorts of people at the recycling centre in Salisbury and Acacia Ridge in my electorate where people have made it a part of their daily program. At night I hear the recycle bins being rummaged through by people looking for those containers. We put a value on the waste and people are taking advantage of that.

That's why at the last election Labor did take a commitment to a national container deposit scheme. Unfortunately, we haven't seen a commitment from the Morrison government as yet. I note that they did have a recycling summit. And there is a commitment to an inquiry under the member for New England and the member for Cunningham, the deputy chair. I'm on that committee that is looking at things. Sadly, sometimes there can be a big press release, a big announcement, claiming something as action, but I think sometimes the king of social media fails to actually show leadership in the real kingdom where on a day-to-day basis people are making decision about the food they buy and how it's presented.

Fortunately, the states and territories have implemented container deposit schemes. As I said, I congratulate Premier Palaszczuk for the leadership in that area. Obviously we are federation. It would be much better if there were a harmonised and coordinated national scheme. For the people who produce food products, and the labelling thereof, it would be much better if there were the carrots and sticks of federal government when it comes to a national container deposit scheme.

We do need a sustainable approach to waste. A container deposit scheme is something practical, but it's just the beginning, as those people know. I've got an 11-year-old son and a 15-year-old son and just explaining to them what goes on in what container—what goes in the compost bin and what goes in the rubbish—and when and how is a constant conversation. I won't name my wife as being someone who needs education, because that would-be inappropriate, obviously, but we do need people to be informed.

Thankfully, as all of the speakers have indicated, schools are doing the educating. Schools are doing the hard yards in educating students. There is great hope, I think, in that next generation that is coming, but we need to make sure that they have a planet to inherit. It already looks like they are being left a planet that has nowhere near the advantages that we have. We already know that they're going to be struggling economically, with people graduating from school this year facing incredible debts should they go to university and incredible debt as a nation—$1 trillion of debt. Then not leaving them a sustainable planet would be an extra burden for that generation to carry.

We need to start talking about a circular economy, where materials are used minimally and reused and recycled to the maximum degree, eventually creating a closed circle. That is crucial because the market mechanism in terms of where the profits are to be made work against that. That is why we need leadership from government. This sustainable approach not only is environmentally responsible but will create resource-recovery manufacturing opportunities and jobs.

This sustainable, circular-economy approach is not what we have in Australia currently, despite the efforts of those farmers, councils, schools and the like. We currently have a linear economy where our limited materials are used in products which are then disposable, so disposable in fact that they could be put on a ship and sent to Malaysia, China or Vietnam and then burned in paddocks over there. We didn't have a recycling industry. We felt good about putting waste in the yellow bin, but we might as well have taken it out in the backyard and burned it. We would have been putting fewer emissions into the air because it wasn't put on a ship and steamed across the ocean to be burned or dumped in the river to eventually come back to us in the ocean. So we do need to do much more than this linear economy.

Our resources are being used in much greater quantities and being wasted much faster. Some of these products are being used for only minutes before they're thrown away as unrecyclable waste. Obviously this is irresponsible and unsustainable, but, because we have good logistics, we can put them in a yellow bin and suddenly absolve our conscience or think that we were able to do it, but really that plastic has been coming back to us in some way, shape or form. Sadly, each Australian on a per capita basis is producing about 100 kilograms of plastic every year and ingesting large amounts as well, unfortunately.

What is going to happen to that waste that we previously exported? We don't want it to end up in landfill or to be stockpiled. That is not a viable alternative. There is action that can be taken now and needs to be taken to ensure we process our waste. Investment in recycling and reprocessing infrastructure is a big part of it. We need to support the demand for recycled materials, rather than just rely on the market. We need to ensure that producers take responsibility for the life-cycle costs of their products. That may include making sure that manufacturers use packaging material that can easily be recycled. We need effective product stewardship regulation. That will have costs for individuals. You will need to consider that cost when you purchase something.

Part of this is consumer awareness. For our domestic recycling systems to work, consumers need to understand what they can recycle and how it should be recycled. Effective consumer awareness will give Australians a choice when they're purchasing products so that they can choose the environmental footprint of their everyday purchases. Consumer awareness will provide economic support to producers who are genuinely trying to increase the environmental sustainability of their products. Labelling should be much clearer, indicating what is recyclable and what is not, so that we know what bins to send something to. Consumer awareness will ensure proper disposal and sorting of rubbish by families. Hopefully that will create less stress and an easier job for recycling operators.

Australia's plastic recycling capacity is lower now than it was in 2005, and that is a national disgrace. A recent expert study shows that plastic in the world's oceans is expected to triple by 2040—to triple in the next 20 years. By 2050, it is estimated that the weight of plastic in the oceans will exceed the weight, the biomass, of fish. Eight million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans each year, and that, as microplastics, is appearing in 50 per cent of some fish and marine birds. And this is why we need to do so much more. (Time expired)

See this speech in context