Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that plastic waste is a blight on our natural environment. Not only is it found littered across the world's beaches but also atop the highest points of Mount Everest and the depths of the Mariana Trench. The work that we are doing here in Australia—the work of our agencies, partnering organisations and industry—is beginning a seismic shift within the domestic recycling landscape. I would like to especially acknowledge the work of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation and Planet Ark and the work that they're doing through the Australian recycling label rollout.

Last week marked the beginning of a new phase of their work with the launch of a new federally-funded national consumer education campaign: Check It! Before You Chuck It. The need for a national recycling education campaign has been one of the main recurring themes that I've encountered through my discussions with experts, industry groups and consumers. We know that incorrect recycling is a major driver of contamination, which results in valuable recycling material being sent to landfill. This new campaign encourages consumers to check the new recycling information labels on their product packaging to ensure they're recycling right and avoid such contamination.

It's critically important that we improve recycling rates so that we restore Australia's faith in the recycling industry. I couldn't be more happy to see the national campaign finally coming to fruition. Admittedly we won't be able to entirely recycle our way out of this problem; more needs to be done to help curb the amount of unnecessary waste that's entering landfills across the country, particularly in our regions and in remote communities. There's no doubt that we have got big challenges ahead of us, but we're making equally big investments to help Australia reach a much cleaner and greener future.

The Morrison government has invested $190 million through the Recycling Modernisation Fund, driving $600 million in recycling investment and bringing about the industries-wide transformation that we need. I commend the work of the Morrison government in putting waste on the national agenda and committing to tackling the many challenges we face in this area. In particular, the efforts of our Minister Ley and Assistant Minister Evans should be commended. They are both very passionate advocates for working actively to bring forward these much needed changes. It's our government's relentless focus on waste and improving recycling that will help us establish a more circular economy and enable us to better protect our natural environment from the blight of plastic waste.