SAVE RECYCLING & STOP PLASTIC POLLUTION
On Friday 8 November the Commonwealth and State/Territory Environment Ministers are meeting in Adelaide to decide the future of recycling in Australia and discuss urgent action on plastic pollution. There has been a lot of talk so far and as these meetings only happen twice a year - the community and the environment need to see results.
What Boomerang Alliance wants from Environment Ministers to Save Recycling and create a Circular Economy:
- Action on the national ban on the export of mixed waste and contaminated recyclables and commitment to investment in domestic recycling.
- Agreement on procurement policies for recycled content in products by government and business, that will create a market for recyclables, particularly plastics.
- Expand all state/territory Container Deposit Schemes to include wine and spirit containers and potentially refillable containers; a requirement that all collected containers have significant recycled content from 2023; and consideration of an increase in the deposit on containers to 20 cents by 2023 if best practice targets not met.
- An enforceable product stewardship scheme for packaging that sets mandatory requirements to minimise virgin materials and toxicity, and ensure it is designed for easy and economically viable recovery (for reuse, composting or recycling).
What Boomerang Alliance wants from Environment Ministers to Stop Plastic Pollution:
- A Plastic Bag Ban (com'on NSW) and Container Deposit Scheme (wake-up Victoria) in each State.
- A national phase-out of thick plastic bags by 2021.
- A phase-out of single use (non-compostable) takeaway packaging, including coffee cups/lids, straws, cups and containers, cutlery, bags and plastic bottles, by 2021.
- Support for a National Plastic Pollution Reduction Strategy to attack other sources of plastic harm.
Check out our letter of recommendations to ministers here.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Boomerang Alliance is posting a series of blogs on our key goals and we will have updates on ministerial responses; other developments prior to and from the November meeting. Also keep track of the campaign on Facebook.
> Follow Boomerang Alliance Meeting of Environment Ministers 2019 Blog
After each meeting Environment Ministers release a communique which you can see here. - you can check out the result from 8 Nov here.
WANT TO DO MORE?
Take a photo of yourself with a recycled product you have bought or found (in a store), use the hashtags #buyrecycled #circulareconomy, tag and message us on Facebook or send an email to [email protected] before Tuesday 5/11/19. We will share these images on our Facebook page in the days leading up to the Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) and with the Federal and State Environment ministers before the MEM on Friday 8/11/19. See example below.
SOCIAL MEDIA 'HANDLES'
When you use these in your posts or tweets it also goes to the person whose 'handle' you use:
-
Sussan Ley
Twitter: @sussanley
Facebook: @SussanLeyMP
-
Trevor Evans
Twitter: @TrevorEvansBne
Facebook: @trevorevansbne
