2019-03-31
Waste & Recycling spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, today welcomed Labor’s new commitment to tackling Australia’s waste crisis but urged them to go further.
“After more than 10 years of gathering dust under successive Labor and Liberal Governments, the Greens welcome Labor’s new commitment to kickstarting parts of the 2009 National Waste Plan.
“Although Labor’s commitment is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go anywhere near far enough to tackle the waste crisis, and I urge any future Labor government to look at the Greens’ private members bill to ban other single-use plastics, not just plastic bags and microbeads.
“The Greens’ private members bill is closely modelled on ground breaking EU legislation, which has now passed into law.
“The Greens welcome the adoption of our initiative to set up a recycling research fund but urge Labor to make sure this invests heavily in scientific research that better understands the impacts of toxic plastics, as well as research and development on solutions to fix this scourge.
“Relentless pressure over many years from the Greens, environmental NGOs, community groups and individuals around the nation have made this happen, and they should all feel proud about getting Labor onboard with this first step.
“If we are going to solve the national waste crisis much more work needs to be done.
"The Greens have played a critical and constructive role in getting this first outcome and we will be working hard in parliament to make sure Labor goes through with their election initiatives.
“The Greens note Labor’s election initiatives mirror the key recommendations from the 2016 Greens-initiated Senate inquiry, ‘Toxic Tide’."