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| Cate Faehrmann MLC |
The NSW Government’s
$1.5 million to establish a Circular Economy Innovation Network
is nothing more than a smokescreen for the government’s failure to take
tough decisions to reduce waste including banning single use plastics
and investing all
of the waste levy into waste solutions, says Greens MP and Environment
Spokesperson Cate Faehrmann.
The NSW Government will only invest $337 million or 16 percent of the $2.1 billion raised by the waste levy over the next four years into reducing waste.
The
announcement comes after the Greens
revealed that waste to landfill has
risen by over 1 million tonnes in the past year and is predicted to rise
by over 5 million tonnes over the next four years due to restrictions
on China’s acceptance of recyclable material
and the introduction of a waste levy in Queensland.
“This is not a
genuine policy, it is a smokescreen for the NSW Government’s failure to
take tough decisions to actually reduce waste,” Ms Faehrmann said.
“Without genuine
action to ban single use plastics, reinvesting the full waste levy and
ruling out burning garbage as part of the solution, this is a hollow
announcement which ignores the scale of the waste
crisis we face.
“It is scandalous
that the government will invest only 16 percent of the $2.1 billion
raised by the waste levy over the next four years into reducing waste
despite the massive and unsustainable increases to
landfill predicted.
“We need to urgently
direct 100 percent of the waste levy towards fixing our growing waste
crisis, ban all single use plastics and employ a Waste Commissioner who
will coordinate waste reduction.”
“We need to ensure
all packaging used in NSW is recyclable, compostable or reusable by the
end of 2023 and that there is curbside organics collection and
composting in all local government areas.”
Feb 27 2019
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