‘Waste to energy’ incinerators to be discussed at emergency meeting

  • State and territory environment ministers to meet on Friday to discuss recycling 
  • Councils across the country are dealing with increase costs due to Chinese ban 
  • One of the options suggested is to establish waste fuel to energy projects 

State and territory environment ministers will meet on Friday and high on their list of discussion topics will be the national recycling crisis.

Councils around the country are stockpiling waste as costs to process recycling have risen dramatically since China implemented a crackdown on importing waste.

Among the options they will be discussing is waste to energy conversion which has recently been panned by environmental and government groups.

State and Territory Environment Ministers will meet on Friday and high on their list of discussion topics will be the national recycling crisis

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has instructed the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency to prioritise projects which could burn waste to generate electricity. 

‘We need to take a sort of holistic, broad approach to this where we will need a series of measures tackling various aspects,’ he told Fairfax Media.

In March NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton announced a $47 million finance package to help local governments in the state respond to China’s new restrictions.

‘The short-term need for increased stockpiles of recycled material during this critical time must be balanced with the safety of the community and the environment,’ Ms Upton said at the time.

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has instructed agencies to prioritise projects which could burn waste to generate electricity

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has instructed agencies to prioritise projects which could burn waste to generate electricity

Ipswich Council in Queensland announced they would scrap their recycling program altogether but have since reversed the decision due to public pressure.

Other councils such as the City of Monash in Victoria want to charge ratepayers extra fees to ensure recycling is maintained.

The Ministers meeting on Friday will be under pressure to come up with a plan to tackle the crises in a way that continues recycling processes without hitting Australians in the hip pocket.

‘The sh*t is hitting the fan with recycling around this country,’ Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson told the ABC on Thursday.

The Chinese restrictions are not a total ban on importing recyclable materials but rather a strict crackdown on how clean the material must be.

This means extra processing and infrastructure, and thus more money, would be needed in Australia to prepare the waste for export.

 The Chinese restrictions are not a total ban on importing recyclable materials but rather a strict crackdown on how clean the material must be

 The Chinese restrictions are not a total ban on importing recyclable materials but rather a strict crackdown on how clean the material must be

 

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