Waste reform welcome, but Government mustn't burn their way to target

2020-02-24

The Victorian Greens have welcomed the Andrews Government’s ambitious plan to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by 80 per cent over the next decade.

The announcement follows years of campaigning by the Greens for greater action on the state’s waste crisis as well as previous calls by the party to introduce both a separate bin for glass and a ‘cash for containers’ scheme.

However, these initiatives will only go partway towards achieving the Government’s ten-year target.

Victorian Greens spokesperson for environment, Ellen Sandell, said it was a relief to see the Government finally taking action on the state’s waste crisis, but warned that it shouldn’t be taking any shortcuts to achieve its 80 per cent target, such as burning our waste in waste-to-energy incinerators.

Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens spokesperson for environment, Ellen Sandell MP:

"It’s a relief to see the Andrews Government finally listening to communities and taking action on our state’s waste crisis, even if they’ve been slow on the uptake.

“But what they’ve announced so far doesn’t stack up with their ambitious target. If the Government wants to protect our environment and reduce the over one million tonnes of waste being dumped in landfill each year, then they can’t afford to take any shortcuts.

“Burning our waste would see any reasonable plan to tackle the waste crisis literally go up in smoke.”