Publication of ‘Investigation of opportunities for the interim improvement of recycler data’

The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has released the report ‘Investigation of opportunities for the interim improvement of recycler data’.

The purpose of the report is to identify potential near-term options for improving current arrangements for the collection and reporting of recycler data and information. Data from and about recyclers is an important part of broader data sets on recycling, recovery of resources and waste performance.

The Net Balance report identifies four options for improving recycler data and reporting:

• Government-led work to seek agreement between public and private sector stakeholders on a common set of recycler data to be collected and reported;
• Development of a consistent set of definitions related to recyclers, resource recovery and recycling;
• Development of a national recycler data standard (which could incorporate a common data set and common definitions);
• A feasibility study into a common online portal for the collection, reporting and disclosure of recycler data.

The report supports work under the National Waste Policy: Less Waste, More Resources, specifically Strategy 16, which requires the development of a national waste data system, the production of national reports on waste and resource recovery, and the identification of interim options for improving data and reporting arrangements prior to commencement of a national system.

The report can be accessed at www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/publications/recycler-data.html.