Consultation Process
Now Closed
This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 18 June to 28 August 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.
Have your say on the draft Waste strategy to help build on South Australia's achievements in recycling, resource recovery and transitioning to the circular economy.
What's being decided?
We are seeking feedback on the Evaluation of South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 and Draft South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025: A Vision for a Circular Economy (draft Waste Strategy)
The Draft Waste Strategy consists of two parts:
- Part 1 - Evaluates progress and achievements in meeting South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020.
- Part 2 - Identifies proposed directions for South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025.
The strategy proposes targets, objectives and actions to achieve positive environmental outcomes while building the local industry and creating business opportunities locally and overseas.
New directions are identified for food waste, single-use plastics, regulatory waste reforms, education and behaviour change and supporting market development through infrastructure investment and other measures.
Our main goal is to support South Australia’s transition to a circular economy to make the state a national centre for reuse, remanufacturing, recycling and composting.
Get involved
To provide your feedback, read the Draft Waste Strategy and Draft Waste Strategy summary and have your say by:
Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged by Green Industries SA. Submissions will be treated as public documents unless received in confidence. They may be quoted in full or part in subsequent Green Industries SA reports. If you do not want the public to read your answers, please write ‘confidential’ on your submission.
How can your input influence the decision?
Your feedback will help Green Industries SA develop the final waste strategy which will provide a framework to meet South Australia’s priorities for:
- Economic growth
- Employing more people
- Investment
- Reducing cost of living
- Providing better services to the community
You can make an important contribution by suggesting an alternative to any of the initiatives discussed.
What are the next steps?
Key themes identified from the submissions will be summarised in a publicly available document, along with how input will be considered in finalising the strategy. The final strategy will be released in late 2020 and will be available to view on this site.
Contact details
For general enquiries, please email greenindustries@sa.gov.au or call us on 08 8204 2051 during business hours (9am to 5pm, weekdays).
Closing date: 5pm, Friday 28 August 2020
Related Consultation
Consultation is also underway on Valuing our Food Waste: South Australia’s strategy to reduce and divert household and business food waste. Have your say on this draft strategy and framework of actions to reduce and divert household and business food waste sent landfill.
Background
Now Closed
This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 18 June to 28 August 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.
The state’s waste management journey began with legislative and policy actions in the 1970s that paved the way for ongoing action and reform.
In 2016, Green Industries SA examined the potential benefits of a circular economy for South Australia. The review confirmed the state’s achievements in resource recovery and highlighted the broader opportunities in employment, the economy and environmental benefits associated with moving to a circular economy.
The success of the next waste strategy relies on an understanding of what has been achieved since 2004. A timeline can be viewed in the draft Waste Strategy 2020-2025.
Green Industries SA has invested more than $120 million from waste levy funds into the waste management and resource recovery industry over more than a decade. This has contributed to increased capacity and improved markets, and assisted the development of new products and skills. It has leveraged considerable investment by industry and local government.
The industry is a significant part of the South Australian economy. The state diverts more than 80% of the waste it generates (Rawtec, 2019) and its resource recovery industry has an annual turnover of around $1 billion, contributing more than $500 million to Gross State Product (directly and indirectly) and employing about 4,800 people (Resources and Waste Advisory Group, 2014).
The value of the resources recovered each year is also significant: in 2017-18 it was estimated to be $356 million (Rawtec, 2019).
South Australia has undertaken significant steps to facilitate this shift towards a circular economy but it requires continued effort to keep materials and resources in use, or ‘circulating’, for as long as possible, while creating local solutions to our waste and recycling issues and expanding the sector.
About Green Industries SA
Green Industries SA is an enabler and driver of change, supporting the development of the circular economy through diverse collaborations which improve productivity, resilience, resource efficiency and the environment.
It aims to transform how South Australians use and value resources. Its objectives under the Green Industries SA Act 2004 are to:
- promote waste management practices that, as far as possible, eliminate waste or its consignment to landfill; and
- promote innovation and business activity in the waste management, resource recovery and green industry sectors, recognising these areas present valuable opportunities to contribute to the state’s economic growth.
The Green Industries SA Act 2004 requires Green Industries SA to develop a waste strategy for the State at least every five years. Green Industries SA has developed three waste strategies for the periods 2005-10, 2011-15 and 2015-20.
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