New laws have been introduced for debate before the Victorian Parliament. The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill 2021 (Vic) (“Bill”) is available via Victorian Legislation.
The Bill will implement the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, ‘Recycling Victoria, A new economy’, released by the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Lily D’Amrosio in February 2020.
The Victorian Government announced the introduction of the Bill to the Victorian Parliament identifying important reforms including:
- introduction of Container Deposit Scheme for cans, bottles and cartons;
- transition of Local Government kerbside collection to a four bin system, further separating glass (purple bin);
- creation of a business unit, Recycling Victoria, forming part of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning; and
- banning the use of single use plastics by February 2023 excluding medical equipment, building on the existing ban on plastic shopping bags.
Concurrently, the Victorian Government announced a half a billion dollar investment in to implement the reforms. Detail of how and where this investment is made has not been released and importantly, what infrastructure will be delivered to improve domestic waste and resource recovery capacity in Victoria.
Dr Ratnam, leader of the Victorian Greens has moved for debate of a moratorium on waste incineration, including mass combustion, gasification, pyrolysis and cogeneration with coal, paper and cement industries.
The detail of the Bill and the Parliament’s debate is available online, revealing the full detail including the future role and function of Regional Waste and Resource Recovery Groups as a business unit within the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
How we can help
If you require any further information, please contact Stefan Fiedler on (03) 9609 1672, 0437 734 742 or by email sfiedler@rk.com.au.
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