Queensland’s RMF commitment will boost WARR
13 July 2021
The waste management and resource recovery industry welcomes the Queensland government’s announcement to scale up its waste and recycling infrastructure through the federal government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF).
Both the Australian and Queensland governments will invest $20 million each with industry matching this funding to deliver a total of $80 million in new investment for the state. The Queensland government has indicated that it will invest in projects such as new high-tech equipment to sort, process and remanufacture mixed plastic, paper and cardboard, glass and tyres.
“We congratulate the Queensland government for announcing its RMF co-investment commitment, which is vital to addressing the materials that are now being captured in the COAG waste export bans that commenced earlier this year,” CEO of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR), Ms Gayle Sloan, said.
“This funding will assist in driving the state’s capacity and capability to recover, recycle, reprocess and remanufacture domestically, leading to growth of local economies and jobs, while delivering other beneficial outcomes for the environment and community. It is also pleasing to see a shift in thinking – evident across all jurisdictions – towards sustainable material management and how end-of-life materials must be returned to the supply chain to be processed and reused.
“The industry looks forward to working with the Queensland government as it rolls out the funding program alongside its WARR plans and policies to build an integrated WARR model to drive improved material management.
“With the COAG export bans now in place, we are seeing a sharp increase in demand for on-shore reprocessing and re-manufacturing facilities for these materials. We look forward to all state jurisdictions working closely with industry to develop planning pathways that enable these RMF funding dollars to be turned into facilities and creating jobs within far faster timeframes than the WARR industry currently experiences,” Ms Sloan said.
The $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund investment along with associated measures to support Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan are expected to create approximately 10,000 new jobs across Australia over the next ten (10) years. Information about how the RMF is being rolled out across jurisdictions can be found here.
“We also look forward to all jurisdictions (including the Commonwealth) committing real dollars towards buying products being made from Australian recycled materials in order to move towards our common vision of creating a circular economy in Australia,” Ms Sloan said.