Recycling and Managing Waste

Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 978 1 921507 15 1
Year 2010

Price: $20.95

  

Recycling and Managing Waste
Volume 305, Issues in Society

Australia may be a large country, but we live in a throw-away society that is rapidly filling it with our waste. Our insatiable desire to constantly upgrade disposable technology and consume over-packaged products has continued unabated for decades. At the same time however, there has been a trend away from both burning waste in incinerators and burying it in landfills. Waste management policies now seek to minimise waste disposal by reducing its generation and by reusing and recycling. This book reveals the extent of our growing waste problem and examines the waste and recycling practices of households, and includes many tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Topics include green waste, plastics, glass, paper, metal and electronic waste (e-waste). What can you do to reduce your impact on the environment? Don’t let a good chance go to waste!

Glossary; Fast Facts; Web Links; Index



fast facts
FAST FACTS from this volume
  • Each year, every Australian generates about one tonne of waste that is sent to landfill. In fact, Australians are the third largest producers of landfill in the developed world on a per capita basis, according to the OECD. Only the US and Israel lie ahead of us.
  • Despite the apparent sizeable increase in the amount of solid waste being generated, the overall trend is towards reduced landfilling and increased recycling of waste. An estimated 19% less solid waste was buried as landfill in Australia (excluding Tasmania and the NT) during 2002-03 (17 million tonnes) than during 1996-97 (21 million tonnes). This was accompanied by a strong increase in the amount of solid waste recycled, from an estimated 80 kg per person during 1996-97 to 759 kg per person during 2002-03.
  • In recent decades, there has been a large increase in the number and diversity of products available to Australian consumers. Associated with this has been an increase in waste diversity, toxicity and complexity. Electronic waste – e-waste – is one of the fastest growing types of waste. Each year, Australians buy more than 2.4 million personal computers and 1 million televisions. As we buy more electronic products, the stockpile of used, obsolete electronic products grows.
  • In March 2006, almost all households (99%) in Australia recycled and/or reused at home, compared with 91% of Australian households in March 1996.
  • In 2006-07 an estimated 41.4 million tonnes of waste was generated in Australia, with around 49% reported as being recycled and 51 per cent as being disposed of to landfill. This is around a 28% increase in the waste generated from 2002-03 to 2006-07. A continuation of this trend would see around 70 million tonnes of waste being generated by 2020, with around 34.3 million tonnes being recovered.
  • In 2006-07, an estimated 11.9 million tonnes of municipal waste were generated of which 7.3 million tonnes were disposed of to landfill and 4.6 million tonnes recycled.
  • In 2006-07, 14.4 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste were generated in Australia of which 6.4 million tonnes were disposed of to landfill (44.5%) and 8 million tonnes recycled (55.5%).
  • In 2006-07, 15.6 million tonnes of construction and dem-olition waste were generated in Australia, of which 8.5 million tonnes (54.5%) were recycled and 7.1 million tonnes (45.5%) were disposed of to landfill.
  • The recycling rate for packaging was estimated at 56% in 2007. The quantity going to landfill had decreased by about 23% from 2003, despite increased generation of packaging waste.
  • Newspaper publishers recycled 76% of newsprint in 2007, a diversion of over 500,000 tonnes of paper from landfill.
  • Australians use more than 3.5 million tonnes of paper each year. Only 11% of Australia’s office paper is currently being recycled. Nearly 9 out of 10 sheets of office paper are being thrown away. (Source: Planet Ark November Report 2005).
  • Australians now throw away 3.3 million tonnes of food every year – up to a quarter of the country’s food supplies, mainly because we purchase too much.
  • Discarded plastic that makes its way into the ocean kills thousands of marine mammals every year.
  • Estimates indicate that around 7 of the 24 billion filtered cigarettes sold in Australia every year end up as litter. They are non-biodegradable and may take up to five years to break down.
  • Australians are the second highest waste producers in the world, second only to Americans.
  • If everyone composted and mulched their green waste, we could slash total waste going to landfill by up to a third.
  • Plastic production worldwide now exceeds 80 million tonnes a year. Australia contributes almost 1.3 million tonnes to that total, which is more than 71 kg per person.
  • In 2004, total plastics consumption in Australia was more than 1.5 million tonnes, of which 12.6% was recycled. In 1997 the total consumption was around 1.3 million tonnes of which 7% was recycled.
  • In 2004, packaging accounted for almost half (42%) of total plastics consumption. Of the plastics used for packaging, 140,584 tonnes (or 22.2%) was recycled.
  • Recycling 1 tonne of plastic saves enough energy to run a refrigerator for a month or 84% of the energy it would take to make one tonne of plastic from raw materials.
  • The time it takes plastic bags to break down in the environ-ment ranges from 20 to 1000 years.
  • If each Australian family used 1 less plastic shopping bag each week, Australians would save 253 million plastic bags a year.
  • 6.9 billion plastic bags are used in Australia every year. If they were tied together, they would circle the globe 42 times.
  • Australians dump 3850 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute.
  • Last year (2007) Australians used 3.9 billion thin plastic bags. In 2002, it was 5.9 billion, although bag use rose 650 million in 2006-07.
  • The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
  • Recycling glass saves 74% of the energy it takes to make glass from raw materials.
  • Despite the rapid development of electronic communic-ation systems, demand for paper products is still growing. In 2004-2005, Australians consumed 4,216,000 tonnes of paper. This consumption costs millions of trees – one great reason to recycle.
  • Steel is one of the world’s most recycled products. It is 100% recyclable, which means its lifecycle is potentially continuous.
  • Making steel from recycled cans uses 75% less energy than when producing steel from raw materials, reduces air em-issions by 86% and reduces water pollution by 76%.
  • In 2006, there were around 1.6 million computers disposed of in Australian landfills, another 1.8 million in storage (in addition to the 5.3 million already gathering dust in garages and other storage areas). Of the total 8.7 million computers only 5.7% are recycled.
  • About 70% of people in Australia have at least one old mobile phone at home. 32% have at least 2 or more. There are an estimated 14.3 million unused handsets in Australia. Only 3% of mobile phones are currently being recycled.