Monday 11 November 2024

WASTE AND RESOURCE RECOVERY (WARR) INDUSTRY MARKS 
NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK 
 
The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) is using National Recycling Week 2024 to encourage the community and business to actively choose to buy Australian recycled materials to help us recycle more.

“Recycling plays a vital role in protecting the environment, reducing the strain on the planet’s natural resources and cutting carbon emissions. Whilst the ideal is we do not create waste, the reality is we do. Of all the waste generated in Australia, 63% of it is recovered,” WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan said. 

“Our industry can do much more than this though, but we need the help of all Australians. We need to grow local demand for Australian recycled materials and products by moving away from virgin materials and the preference for ‘new’,” she said. 

“Recycling does not stop at placing material in the correct bin. It starts and continues at the shelf with what we buy and keep buying, using, sharing and repairing. WMRR encourages the community, business and government to actively think about what they buy and how they can use less for longer.

“And when we do consume, let’s choose to buy Australian recycled. Ask the question, ‘is this made from recycled material? If not, why not?’ 

“WMRR urges Australians to use their purchasing power to influence businesses to buy products made from (Australian where possible) recycled materials - be it packaging, compost or building products - the list goes on and on. Creating markets for locally recycled materials is absolutely essential and the missing link not talked about enough about.

“Put simply, we must extend the life of materials by keeping them circulating for longer and valuing them in the same way we value new. Recycling the planet’s valuable resources and reducing demand on virgin and reducing emissions must always be the goal.

“WMRR has compiled five (5) myths about recycling and urges consumers and businesses to help bust these myths to enable informed purchasing choices that preference Australian recycled materials wherever possible,” Ms Sloan said.

These five (5) recycling myths busted are here.