Waste companies, recyclers and environmentalists unite

Collaboration between Australia's waste companies, recyclers and the Total Environment Centre has resulted in the release of a national plan to prevent two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

New South Wales currently generates over 4.3 million tonnes of food, garden, paper and wood waste yet only 41% is being recycled. This waste diversion rate ranks lower than South Australia (at 58%) and only slightly higher than Victoria (at 39%) and will result in significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 40 years.

Currently, the dumping of food, garden, paper and wood wastes produces high levels of landfill gas, consisting mostly of methane, which has a global warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide.

Unless new recycling policies are implemented, there is a significant risk of increasing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years, making up potentially 85% of Australia's future carbon budget, according to original research conducted by sustainability consultants Warnken ISE.

In order to address this challenge there are a range of solutions available, said the Resource Recovery Collaboration.

"This is a pollution liability we must avoid. To combat it, these degradable materials should be recycled, instead of land filled. Measures such as a landfill allowance scheme, emissions trading, bans and levies imposed at the tip, are available," Total Environment Centre director, Jeff Angel, said.

"Closed loop recycling and re-use of these materials is vital with significant potential for future investment in these new generation industries," Visy general environment manager, Nick Harford said.

John Lawson, manager at Global Renewables, stated that "strategy needs to be implemented now to decrease greenhouse gases and increase the sustainable use of resources. Business-as-usual projections of landfill emissions show an increase from 15.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in 1990 to 46.9 million tonnes by 2050. We believe removal of this pollution would be widely accepted by the Australian community."