Solve our recycling crisis – 88% of Australians urge government to act now

April 27, 2018

Australian’s have spoken and are resoundingly calling on their Environment Ministers to act now to put an end to the recycling crisis.

Environment Ministers will meet today to make decisions about what needs to happen to our recycling industry following China’s ban on Australian waste material.  A survey released yesterday shows an overwhelming 88% of Australians support government action to ensure the future of recycling in our country.

Alex Fraser MD Peter Murphy said Australian Council of Recycling’s survey results were not surprising.

“Australians have supported recycling for decades, sorting their waste and trusting it will be recovered from their kerbside.  They expect it to be put to good use and many are surprised to find out not all government agencies are proactive about using recycled material,” he said.

Australians support government’s investment in recycled products

The survey revealed 53% ‘strongly support’, and 36% ‘support’ government purchasing recycled content products. This means actively closing the loop by buying and using recycled alternatives wherever practical.

Other specific measures Australians are calling for include:

• compulsory recyclable packaging (51% strong support; 37% support)
• compulsory recycled content in all packaging (50% strong support; 37% support); and
• national education to reduce contamination of kerbside recycling (52% strong support; 36% support)

Australian Council of Recycling, the Waste Management Association of Australia and the Boomerang Alliance, a coalition of environment groups, have jointly called on the Meeting of Environment Ministers to take decisive action today, on Friday 27th April.

“Governments at all levels should demonstrate leadership by choosing recycled materials at every opportunity.”

“There is so much infrastructure construction underway that the government is now concerned we don’t have enough virgin material to build these projects. On the other hand we have recovered resources like glass and the innovation and know-how to turn it into the quality resources needed to build our cities,” said Peter.

To learn more about how our innovative approach to glass recycling is helping solve some of the country’s biggest waste management issues click here. 

The nation-wide survey by Crosby|Textor of 1000 randomly selected, representative Australians was conducted on April 16^th to 18^th, and was commissioned by ACOR, the peak organisation for Australia’s major recycling companies. The margin of error was 3.1%