A $37 million win for Victoria’s future: Rescue package important step in bringing recycling crisis back from the brink

Today’s announcement of a $37 million recycling rescue package to reduce recyclable material going into landfill has been welcomed by environmental advocacy group Environment Victoria, who have been involved in a long-term campaign to resolve Victoria’s waste crisis.

Environment Victoria says that the new plan put forward by the Andrews Government will play an important role in improving the state’s recycling system by reducing contamination, increasing recycled content in government projects and purchasing, and helping Victorian businesses use more recycled material.

“Today’s announcement by the state government is an important first step in bringing Victoria’s recycling crisis back from the brink,” said Mark Wakeham, CEO of Environment Victoria.

“The Victorian government has provided new funding to help councils improve their collection systems, educate households on exactly what should be recycled and improve the sorting of recycled material to weed out contamination.

“There will also be significant investments to develop markets for recycled material, with funding for vital research and support to get more recycled material into Australian products combined with a commitment to use more recycled material in government projects.

“Our state government has the potential to lead Victoria into a clean energy, no-waste future, and make our state a world leader in closing the loop on waste. These new measures are an important step towards achieving these goals.

“We know Victorians are great recyclers, and don’t want to see their efforts going to waste. This announcement shows that our state government has listened to community concerns and is serious about getting our recycling system back on track.

“Victorians want a state government who sets ambitious targets to address this recycling crisis and we welcome the Andrews government’s decision to lead by example and commit to use more recycled material in their own projects.

“We hope to see the Victorian Coalition also embrace government procurement policies to support recycling so that we have a bipartisan rescue package for our recycling industry which employs over 6000 Victorians.

“The next step is to get every level of government working together to tackle the issue – local governments must set high standards through their contracts, state governments must invest in our capacity to sort and utilise recycled material, and the federal government needs to set clear standards to make sure that all packaging is recyclable, compostable or reusable.

“We know that this November Victorians will be voting for a clean energy, no-waste future for our State. This new plan is an important step in achieving this goal,” said Mr Wakeham.