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Australia, our recycling industry’s facing a tough old time. We’ve had it pretty good for a while. Generate waste, sort waste, ship waste off to China to be disposed of. But as of January 1st this year, that all changed – China was no longer taking our trash.
Since then thousands of tonnes of waste, including recyclables, has piled up across the country. The costs of processing recycling are soaring, leaving some local councils unable to cope. A few are even considering dumping recycling programs altogether.
Now experts say we need to change our strategy. Instead of focusing on how we recycle waste we need to consider how it’s being generated in the first place. For that, we’ve got to put the pressure back on businesses.
We could take on some of the creative responses other countries have introduced – like Sweden, who burn part of their waste to generate energy (a policy so successful it’s seen them import waste from its neighbours!) or Switzerland, who has started charging for waste bags – meaning the more waste you generate, the more you pay!
Australia hasn’t adequately prepared for the prospect of processing all our own waste, so we need a creative – and effective – strategy ASAP. But will big business really play ball, or is recycling in this country simply donezo?
