A new era for Tasmanian WARR

11 March 2022

The passing of the Container Refund Scheme Bill 2021 and the Waste and Resource Recovery Bill 2021 in Parliament on Thursday marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Tasmania’s waste and resource recovery (WARR) industry.

The move is set to bring the state closer to meeting its circular objectives by putting a price on valuable resources to encourage greater landfill diversion, recycling, resource recovery, and remanufacturing, and by embracing a genuine polluters-pay model for beverage containers.

“WMRR congratulates the Tasmanian government for staying the course with the landfill levy and container refund scheme and recognises the Labor Party’s support of these two (2) significant initiatives,” WMRR CEO, Ms Gayle Sloan, said.

“The fact that a common-sense approach has been taken this week in Parliament to progress the landfill levy and CRS is heartening, as it shows that the government is committed to WARR and it acknowledges the numerous benefits of these tools, including reducing waste to landfill that will, in turn, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

“There will be a suite of opportunities that Tasmanians can look forward to through the landfill levy and CRS, from attracting investment that will build the capacity and capability of its WARR infrastructure, which will grow the industry and create a multitude of green jobs, to developing new local remanufacturing industries, to reducing litter and increasing recycling, as well as putting more money in householders’ pockets,” Ms Sloan added.

“It is evident that the government understands that business-as-usual is not an option; we need to find pathways to transition from a linear economy to one that is more circular. Positively, Tasmania can look to its neighbouring jurisdictions to draw lessons on how to design a best practice landfill levy framework and CRS, and we look forward to working closely with the government as it now starts the roll-out process.”