Exploring Australia's waste sector: resource recovery observations and State Government strategies
Welcome to the second instalment of our three-part series on environmental infrastructure in Australia. In this update, we focus on the broader strategies announced by state governments to encourage waste reuse and increase resource recovery rates. Additionally, we provide an overview of the advancements made towards achieving waste targets, highlighting existing challenges and opportunities to accelerate Australia towards a Circular Economy.
State Government recycling and resource recovery strategies
Recycling and resource recovery regulations differ across Australian states, but the overall goal is consistent: promoting circular economies and minimising landfill waste. The table below provides a brief overview of recycling and resource recovery strategies by state governments, outlining key priorities and targets. Additional details about each strategy can be accessed through the hyperlinks embedded in the overview.
Table 1: Overview of recycling and resource recovery strategies by governments.
|
Overview |
Key priorities |
Targets |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
NSW |
The Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 focuses on the environmental benefits of reducing waste volumes; promoting reuse, recycling, and recovery. |
Meeting future infrastructure and service needs (including building residual waste capacity), reducing carbon emissions through better waste and materials management and protecting the environment and human health. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below:
|
|
QLD |
The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy outlines the state’s ambition to become a zero-waste society, where waste is avoided, reused and recycled. |
Reducing the impact of waste on the environment, transitioning to a circular economy and building economic opportunities. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below:
|
|
SA |
The South Australia's Waste Strategy 2020-2025 outlines a roadmap for developing a circular economy. The strategy emphasises policy and legislative frameworks, innovation, public awareness, and waste diversion. |
Increasing market confidence for investments in the circular economy, encouraging local innovation and investment, increasing SA’s use of secondary materials and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below:
|
|
WA |
The Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 outlines objectives to reduce waste generation, increase material recovery, and minimise landfilling in the Perth and Peel regions. |
Implementing a three-bin kerbside collections system, utilising sustainable government procurement practices that encourage better use of recycled products and developing local government waste plans. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below:
|
|
ACT |
The ACT Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2030 outlines objectives for developing markets for organic and residual waste resources as well as for recyclable materials. |
Designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use at their highest value, avoiding negative impacts on the environment and regenerating natural systems. |
State-specific targets are not included in the current strategy document but were last outlined in the ACT Waste Management Strategy 2011-2025, including:
|
|
TAS |
The Tasmanian Waste and Resource Strategy 2023-26 introduces the states's plans and objectives for creating circular economies with reduced environmental impact. |
Reducing waste production, increasing reuse and recovery, integrated planning and action and developing an understanding of infrastructure capacity and priorities. |
State-specific targets are not included in the current strategy document but were last outlined in the Draft Tasmanian Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2022-2025, including:
|
|
NT |
The Northern Territory Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2027 outlines the NT's plans for collaboration, and encouraging investment in resource, reuse and recycling businesses to achieve key priorities and targets. |
Fostering circular economy growth, transitioning the Territory to a circular economy and positioning the waste industry as a contributor to the Territory’s $40b vision by 2030. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below.
|
|
VIC |
The Recycling Victoria: A new economy policy outlines the state's 10-year action plan to increase resource recovery rates and promote markets for recycled end products. |
The policy focuses on overhauling the state's recycling system by reforming kerbside collection, introducing new investments in recycling and Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) initiatives as well as developing markets for recycled materials. |
Some of the targets outlined in the strategy are shown below.
|
Advancements made towards achieving waste targets
Clearly, Australian states and territories are committed to waste management strategies with the introduction of overarching goals for environmental sustainability, resource recovery, and the promotion of circular economies. These strategies emphasise reducing waste generation, promoting reuse and recycling, and minimising landfilling. Targets include specific reductions in waste per capita, increased resource recovery rates, and the promotion of circular economy principles. However, each jurisdiction tailors its approach to address unique challenges and opportunities, with a focus on building infrastructure, reducing carbon emissions, and fostering innovation. While there is a collective ambition across Australia to transform waste management practices and contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future, there is still much work to be done to achieve these targets.
For instance, Australia is currently falling behind its goal of recycling 70% of plastic waste by 2025. Initially announced in 2018, both Federal and state governments announced commitments to enhance the capacity for recycling an additional 608,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. However, delays in infrastructure delivery have impeded progress. The slower-than-expected rate of plastics recycling is partly attributed to a lack of a coordinated rollout of new recycling centres capable of processing plastic waste materials and gaps in available processing capacity. A similar challenge is evident in the efforts of State Governments to meet landfill diversion targets. In Queensland, only 27.3% of MSW and 49.4% of C&I waste was diverted from landfill in 2021-22, well below the 2025 targets of 55% and 65%, respectively. To achieve the targets, additional infrastructure must be developed and delivered in a relatively short period of time.
The gap in infrastructure development needed to address the shortfall in achieving recycling targets is explained by industry-specific barriers, which have prolonged project development timeframes and increased the complexity of market entry. Noteworthy barriers include inconsistent policies across Australian jurisdictions, complex approval pathways, inadequate data on waste streams, lack of domestic demand for high-quality recycled content, and regulatory changes that affect feedstock quantities and quality. It is not uncommon for projects in the waste management sector to face multiple challenges simultaneously, leading to delays and cost overruns.
To ensure Australia meets its targets, industry leaders advocate for the creation of regulatory frameworks that harmonise the objectives, policies, and approval pathways of individual State Governments. Additionally, governments are encouraged to provide clarity on policy positions, especially regarding the preferences associated with different methods of achieving recycling targets, feedstock quality and quantity, and develop mechanisms promoting collaborative approaches with private sector participants for infrastructure development.
In particular, we identify a need for the government to prioritise circularity in the early stages of industry value chains by mandating eco-friendly production practices for manufacturers. While product stewardship initiatives show some promise in minimising waste, additional legislation is necessary to meet Australia's recycling and resource recovery goals. Germany, a global recycling leader, demonstrates the effectiveness of government intervention. It has implemented binding recycling requirements, and mandatory fees for packaging recycling, and made producers, markets, and consumers responsible for waste reuse and recycling. These policies have sparked significant change in supply chain design, product development, and environmentally responsible waste disposal, reducing waste in production and influencing consumer behaviour by increasing domestic demand for high-quality recycled content. This comprehensive approach creates a pull-based supply chain, prompting producers to consider the environmental impact of their production and prioritise resource recovery and reuse in product development.
We acknowledge that whilst challenges remain in achieving ambitious resource recovery and recycling targets, it is promising to evidence increasing investor appetite for waste infrastructure projects and market participation in the industry. Addressing the barriers to entry through concerted regulatory and legislative support is expected to increase private sector confidence, encourage domestic demand for high-quality recycled content and catalyse the delivery of the infrastructure required to accelerate the progress of landfill diversion targets.
Later in the year, we will publish our third article covering Australia’s energy landscape, including a high-level snapshot of novel energy storage solutions, and trends in electrification and decarbonisation. Stay tuned for these insights and more as we shed light on Australia’s evolving environmental infrastructure landscape.
Considering your project development requirements or selecting a preferred contracting model? Connect with our team and let's continue the conversation.
