PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr LAXALE (Bennelong) (11:16): I thank the member for Mackellar for bringing this important motion to the House, because plastic waste is a significant challenge, and, to tackle it, we really need an all-in approach: every level of government, big and small business, every local environment group and as many households as possible. And, while all that gains momentum, the government is building the homegrown recycling industry that we need to back this all up.
Single-use plastic pollution is a real problem for our country and the world, and it's something that my community in Bennelong really, really care about. From the Clean Up Australia Day events along our beautiful Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers to all our local environmental and sustainability groups who help train and educate locals on how to reduce their waste, it's something Bennelong really gets behind.
Before I came to this place I spent 10 years on Ryde council, five of them as mayor. Local government, in case you weren't aware, is ground zero for dealing with plastic waste. It needs to be at the table as we resolve this problem.
In my time in Ryde, we set a zero-litter-to-river target for our local river catchments because residents were sick of seeing their waterways treated as a dumping ground for someone else's chip wrapper. That experience taught me that, while voluntary schemes work for companies that already do the right thing, for everyone else, 'optional' doesn't mean results.
The status quo needs to change, which is why Australia's circular economy framework sets out a clear path to double our circularity by 2035. I understand the urgency in the member for Mackellar's motion, and I would like her to be well aware that this is right across the government's agenda. We've established the Recycling Modernisation Fund to invest over $200 million, supporting 61 projects and diverting over a quarter of a million tonnes of waste from landfill every year.
And we're already supporting established soft plastic trials in over 700 stores nationwide. As processing capacity grows, that service will need to keep expanding. Its popular.
People want to recycle their soft plastic, and those solutions need to be set up because strengthening our domestic recycling industry will allow more manufacturing jobs here—more jobs for Australians—and, importantly, won't shift this problem offshore. It's disappointing that the global plastic pollution treaty has stalled, but that has not slowed this government's domestic agenda down whatsoever.
Over the past 18 months, there's been substantial consultation with industry and the recycling sector, including statutory reviews on the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act and Senate and Productivity Commission inquiries. I understand that the minister will convene a further roundtable with industry in the coming months. Last year, understandably, passing our EPBC reform was our most immediate priority.
However, our circular economy ambitions were continuing in parallel, and that's important. We also need to be clear about the politics here. This is a government that is doing something when it comes to plastic waste, the circular economy and recycling, whereas the former government did next to nothing.
The last time the Liberals and Nationals were in government, they set targets but did nothing to achieve them. It's a familiar story. They issued the press release but did nothing to back it up.
We're actually doing the work to reach these targets. The method and timing of this reform matters. The Recycling and Waste Reduction Act already grants the government the power for mandatory product stewardship, and we have used that power.
But, right now, the global fuel shortage has spiked the price of virgin plastic resin, creating cost pressures that touch everything that we consume daily. Minister Watt has been very upfront with industry, but, ironically, this price spike makes recycled plastic more competitive. That's why I say that the moment to lock in mandated recycling content with the right sequencing is now, ensuring that industry and councils are at the table.
If we rush a national soft plastics scheme, we risk a second REDcycle-style collapse. That's not what our industry deserves. Certainly that's not what our community deserves.
They want to recycle their soft plastic, but they expect it to stand up on its own two feet and not collapse again. Rest assured, I'll keep on pushing within government to get this right.