The Western Australian Government has allocated $17 million in funding to the Waste Authority to start improving the state’s recycling and waste diversion record from 30 per cent to in excess of 50 per cent over the next five years.

 

State Environment Minister Bill Marmion approved the Waste Authority’s five-year business plan to achieve the improvement targets, which will receive $17.2 million in funding for the first year.

 

“The State’s first waste strategy, Creating the Right Environment, was launched in March 2012, outlining ambitious but achievable targets to reduce waste going to landfill,” Mr Marmion said.


“The authority will immediately initiate action on all the strategy’s five targeted objectives.”


Some key initiatives to be rolled out before the end of the year include:

  • community education campaign to address improper dumping of rubbish at charity collection centres
  • targeted collections of household hazardous waste managed through the existing local government collection system
  • establishing additional mattress recycling options within the metropolitan area
  • increased support for e-waste collections in non-metropolitan centres while the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is rolled out across Australia
  • trialling the processing of commercial waste through resource recovery facilities designed to cater for municipal solid waste
  • commencement of a best-practice implementation incentive scheme for local government to drive increased recovery of resources from urbanised areas
  • launching a round of the Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme to support the development of additional waste processing infrastructure in the State.

 

Mr Marmion said the Government would await the outcome of the Landfill Regulatory Review, being undertaken by DEC, with the assistance of the Waste Authority, and the statutory review of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007, before considering any changes to the landfill levy.