Committee backs call for energy-efficiency factor with emissions trading scheme

The National Carbon Committee of the Waste Management Association of Australia has backed a call of the Secretary of the Department of Climate Change to consider factors like energy efficiency alongside the emissions trading scheme.

Speaking at the Climate Action Network Australia conference in Sydney, Dr Martin Parkinson said that energy-efficiency measures and support for research and development were two "obvious" areas where emissions trading alone will not achieve what is required.

“The waste industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new technology to enable recycling. Making products from recycled materials can use less energy and therefore drive energy efficiency," said Mike Ritchie, chairman of the Carbon Committee.

Waste industry management participants are responsible for annual turnover of $11.5 billion.

“We are concerned that the emissions abated through resource recovery and recycling —by avoiding the production of goods from raw materials — be taken into consideration and, for example, figured into the Australian Emissions Trading Scheme (AETS) offset market. At the moment, it would appear that the scheme will only deal with emissions from landfill,” Ritchie said.