Victoria is in the midst of a waste crisis.
The Greens’ Waste Transition Plan takes the first bold steps towards a circular economy for Victoria to manage our waste better.
Landfill is often the first, not last resort for managing many different types of waste. In Victoria, we generated 12.7m tonnes of waste in 2015/16, and a third was sent to landfill. With China cracking down on contaminated recycling in early 2018, Australia’s recycling system is at risk of collapse. We can no longer afford to rely on our current ‘take-make-dump’ approach to how we make & use products.
The Greens’ Waste Transition Plan represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set us on a path to smarter use of resources & materials and to phase out landfills and problematic wastes. We are focused on an urgent statewide overhaul of Victorian waste management to lead Australia’s transition to a circular economy.
The Greens plan will:
- Expand the local sorting & recycling industry and boost demand for locally recycled content through state & local government procurement.
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End plastic pollution by:
- introducing a Container Deposit Scheme
- phasing out single-use plastics & microbeads
- mandating 70% recycled content in packaging.
- Close the loop on food waste by strengthening kerbside collection & expanding processing infrastructure to produce compost and other recycled products.
- Recycle smarter by creating the Circular Economy Centre.
- Maintain waste-to-energy as a last resort for managing health, safety & environmental impacts of waste treatment, disposal & storage.
Read our detailed plan here [PDF]
The Greens’ Waste Transition Plan can also be accessed here.