Waste 06

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Waste 06 29th March, 2006
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Australian Council of Recyclers

• Background
• Established in 1983
• To encourage and promote recycling achievements
  to the wider community
• Primary resource to government and industry on
  consumer and industrial recycling

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ACOR Vision

• ACOR members are committed to maximizing
  resource recovery and achieving highest resource
  value of Australias secondary materials.

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Principles

• Seek to encourage governments, industry and
  community to take action to promote resource
  recovery
• Seek to ensure that govt. policy is uniform, non
  prescriptive, equitable and promotes efficient
  and sustainable triple bottom line for the
  resource recovery.
• Optimise the recovery and recycling of secondary
  resources.
• Seek quality feedstock

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ACORs membership

• Glass packaging
• Paper and newsprint
• Mobile garbage bins
• Mobile phones
• Plastics
• Tyres
• Whitegoods
• Alternate technologies

• Batteries
• Cardboard
• Computers
• Construction and Demolition
• Electronics
• Ferrous Non-Ferrous Metals

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ACOR member companies

• Recycle in excess of 11,300,000 tonnes of
  material annually
• Direct employees gt 5,000

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ACOR members include
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• Strategic Direction
• Policy and strategy towards zero waste.
• Always be residuals
• Targets 2014 no plan so any road will do
• NSW targets 2014 66 MSW 3.0 M tonnes,
• 63 C I 3.6 M tonnes
• 6.6 M
  tonnes in 7 yrs
• Greater resource recovery relies on private
  sector investment
• Investment decisions need sound Business Plans
  profit
• R D and innovation
• Need trials e.g. TV, computer collection pilot
  programs
• Need data good, current, reliable

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Additional recyclables to meet NSW 2014 target
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• The Need for Reform
• Perfect world
• No waste
• Intrinsic value cover costs
  collection/processing
• Reality
• Consumption and generation is increasing
• Gap - value and recovery increasing
• Solution
• create a market value Gap has a value, waste
  transferred into resources

• .

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The Need for Reform

• Environmental benefits of resource recovery
  reduced green house gas, lower pollution greater
  resource conservation sustainability
• National benefits of kerbside recycling in
  1999/00 420 M
• Reduce waste to landfill catch cry
• Solution waste levy and increase it !!
• Problem Discourages waste disposal - can
  discourage some resource recovery

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The need for Reform

• Example Microwave
• 10 recoverable (steel) material and 90 waste.
• 100 kg recoverable material, 900 kg is waste /
  Tonne.
• Metal value 80/tonne, 100kgs 8.
• Landfill charge 50/tonne, 900kgs waste 45.
• Collection and processing cost 50/tonne
• Income 8 Total cost of 95.
• Cheaper microwave go to waste.
• Increase the levy by how much?
• Levy 0.9 x Levy (95-8 88)
• Levy of 870/tonne
• Levies have no impact on recycling of microwaves.

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The Need for Reform

• Impact Of Waste Levy On Recycling of Steel
• Assume no levy
• waste x 50 disposal 50 collection 80
  value (1 - waste)
• If product has gt 23 waste, costs exceed income.
  
• Assume 2011 - 60 / tonne waste levy
• waste x 50 disposal 60 levy 50
  collection 80 value (1 - waste)
• If product has gt 16 waste, costs exceed income
• Recycling rate 7 worse
• Over simplification of complex argument
• The NSW waste levy argument is fundamentally
  flawed.

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The Need for Reform

• Solution
• Traditionally recycling motivated by -
  cheaper then virgin materials to reuse
• Now Govt policy and community expectation recover
  uneconomic products
• ACOR supports EPR programs producer pays
• Internalise the value of the recycling activity
  Eco-Service, value it, trade it.
• STOP punishing waste disposal REWARD Recycling

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The Need for Reform

• Market Based Instruments (MBI)
• Topic explored, reviewed by DEH, Boomerang
  Alliance, ACOR
• ACOR Report released 8th February 2006
• Waste levies are a MBI, others - trading schemes,
  aggregates taxes
• Need value resources recovered, avoided
  greenhouse gas, energy savings, jobs created -
  currently mining companies subsidies, rebates
• ACOR MBI report - Hyder Consulting (Nolan ITU)
• Environmental Economic Valuation Model (Eco
  dollar)
• Assign 20 of the real environmental benefit of
  recycling

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Overall Cost-Benefits from Municipal Recycling in
2014
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Overall Cost- Benefits from the CI Recycling in
2014
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The Need for Reform

• Upstream MBI - Tradable permits
• Setting recycled content targets for
  manufacturers. If no or low recycled content
  purchase certificates from manufacturers
  exceeding quotas. Recyclers hold surplus
  certificates

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• The Need for Reform
• Benefits
• Direct
• Additional cash flow to recyclers
• Indirect
• More competition for recycled materials

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• The Need for Reform
• Issues to be considered
• Equity and feasibility of setting of targets
• Technical limitations to recycled content usage
• Verification of recycled content
• Must be implemented nationally
• Administration

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The Need for Reform

• Options
• Downstream MBI Landfill Allowance Trading
  Scheme (LATS)
• Landfills receive quota or cap, penalties for
  excess tonnes, landfills under quotas can sell,
  keep or borrow on future

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The Need for Reform

• Benefits
• Direct
• Easy to define, measure, identify liable parties
  and administrate
• Disadvantages
• Existing approvals for quantity to be landfilled
• Issue
• Need central administration

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• ACOR
• Resource Recovery is our business
• Source of knowledge, expertise and experience.
• Lobby for better resource management outcomes

www.acor.org.au