Recycling Waste is The Best Way to Improve Environment in Australia

The TV series, 'War On Waste', aired by the ABC in May 2017 generated a significant attention on how much waste Australians produce. The annual kerbside waste created by every Australian is 647kg per year. 'War On Waste: The Survey' has discovered that while most Australians see waste as an issue, this is not translating into action. There is a gap between understanding and action. According to the survey results, 86% of respondents believe that we as a nation should reduce waste, but only 50% of respondents are trying to reduce their household waste. Among those who produced less waste in their households also spoke about reducing use of plastic bags and packaging, and be selective on their purchases. Recycling waste is the best way to improve our environment. So in this essay we will find out why do Australians understand waste is an issue but they don’t take action?

Moreover, this research aims to examine what are the challenges Australians face in increasing their household recycling, explore Australian recycling habits, investigate the uptake of recycling information and labels on packaging, and whether recyclable content in product packaging would influence Australians buying choices subsequently reducing waste.

Waste and Recycling Crisis in Australia

The Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy commissioned Blue Environment Pty Ltd to prepare a national waste report and this report was published in November 2018. The report found that Australia has generated an estimated 67 million tonnes (Mt) of waste in 2016–17 and around 13.8 Mt was kerbside and public place waste collected by local councils. Australia’s waste generation has increased by 3.9 Mt (6%) over the last decade and household waste increased by 1.5 Mt, according to the report. Australian Capital Territory has the highest increase of estimated 941,000 tonnes (34%) while New South Wales generated the highest total amount of waste in comparison to other states and territories. Local governments collected a total of around 9.7 Mt of waste from kerbside bin and half of the bin contents was sent to landfills.

Recycling is vital because it helps reduce waste and pollution caused by waste generations. Pollution does not only harm our environment, it can also cause wide spread of diseases and habitat destruction due to depletion of natural resources. Recycling waste is in the waste hierarchy and in a typical state and territory policy frameworks, it begins with avoid and reduce waste, reuse, and recycle waste respectively.

Since War On Waste first aired, Australians have become curious about how waste is processed. Local councils have reported a large number of public enquiries received was about what happens to the kerbside recyclables (Planet Ark 2018). This shows that Australians have begun to learn and educate themselves on the recycling process.

There is an increase of people who have bought coffee in a BYO reusable coffee cups from 37% to 42% after War On Waste was aired. This evidence shows Australians are willing to take action when they learn about what can and can’t be recycled. This suggests that Australians are committed to reducing and recycling waste. Australians also reduce waste by reusing plastic bags, reducing food waste with eating leftovers or buying selectively, and donating and buying clothes from charity.

Australian domestic recycling industry is facing a crisis. In January 2018, China introduced the National Sword Policy to reduce acceptable contamination in recyclables shipped from around the world from 5%–10% to 0.5%. This has forced Australia to rethink its dependence on exporting plastics, papers and cardboards to China for recycling. With China’s National Sword policy means 526 tonnes of Australia’s kerbside recyclables, which comprises 49% paper and cardboard; 42% of plastics and 1% of metals will not be shipped overseas for processing. Indonesia sent back Australian paper waste in July this year because it was contaminated by dirty nappies and electronics.

Australia’s recycling infrastructure needs a major improvement and investment before they can process all of the country’s recyclables. Brooke Donnelly from the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation has said that “there was lack of transparency around the information on where waste was produced and where it ended up, making it difficult to invest in recycling infrastructure”.

Statistics of Australians’ Recycling Habits

Kerbside recycling collection was introduced in Australia in the 1980s. Australians are no strangers to the concept of recycling as recycling rate doubles in 1993 since kerbside collection launched. 90% of Australians think recycling is the right thing to do and with only 1% of households reporting they do not engage in some form of recycling. Australians are no strangers to kerbside recycling. However, they unknowingly contaminate recyclate not due to their lack of care, instead, it often based on a misunderstanding of what can be recycled.

A 2016 research reported that 57% of ‘committed’ recyclers have wrongly recycled old drinking glasses and more than 6 in 10 people think Pringles tubes are recyclable. Around 58% of plastic and 23% of glass packaging was found in the wrong kerbside bin means they will end up in landfills.

Why aren’t Australians doing the right thing? With 10% of Australia’s population don’t actively recycle, that is 2.4 million people not on board. Even though 90% of Australians think recycling is the right thing to do, a recent study, Don’t Waste Your Waste, has revealed that a staggering 94% of Australians making recycling mistakes. The study discovered that despite many Australians are eager to recycle but 94% of them still put non-recyclable items in their recycling bin, highlighting that Australians are confused and this confusion prevents us from having a good recycling practice.

Why is recycling confusing? Recycling is a system. Recyclable waste goes into collection bins and processed at waste management facilities into a reusable and marketable product. The process is seemingly straightforward. But the current system isn’t automatic. It relies on Australians putting their waste into the correct bins. Local councils’ waste management facilities all unanimously stated that the most common mistake Australians make is placing their recyclables into plastic bags before putting recyclables in the kerbside bin. These plastic bags contaminate the recyclable loads and they end up in landfills.

Complexities of Recycling in Australia

Why are Australians confused about recycling? We know that the common recyclable items are aluminium and steel cans, cardboard, glass, paper and plastic bottles. But the recycling system is made complex due to the different capabilities of the machines used in the local councils’ waste management facilities. For example, disposable coffee cups can be recycled in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) but not in New South Wales (NSW). Although the disposable coffee cups are made of paper, which is natural to think they can be recycled, but the cups are lined with a layer of plastic waterproof material. This makes the cups cannot be recycled in most cities and they may actually contaminate the load of recyclables if they are found in the recycling bins means the load ends up in landfills.

Additionally, a factor that complicates recycling is packaging produced with mixed materials, such as coffee packaging for your coffee grounds and beans, cannot be recycled as it is made from a composite material that cannot be separated by any machinery. Often the size of the recyclables also make the items hard to recycle. Items such as plastic lids and yogurt containers. Their small sizes are difficult for sorting machines at the waste management facilities to pick up, and they end up in landfills.

How do Australians know what materials have been used in the products they have bought? Most Australians will look for the recycling symbol on the packaging for instructions on how to dispose of the package responsibly. But mistakes do happen, especially the different capabilities of waste management facilities can be a factor in Australians make recycling mistake. For example, it is common knowledge that coffee cups can be recycled in the ACT but when Canberrans visit Sydney in NSW, and they automatically put their take-away coffee cups into the recycling bins in Sydney, unintentionally contaminate the recyclable load.

The real issue is the absence of correct packaging disposal information provided to Australians at the right time based on locations where they access the information. Although recycling symbols are printed on almost all of the products you can buy from shops these days but the symbol does not give you the information if your local recycling facility could recycle this packaging.

Imported Products and Recycling Codes

Australia’s total value of global import was US$227.3 billion in 2018. This translates to estimated $9700 in a yearly product demand from each Australian. A substantial portion of products sold on the shelves in supermarkets these days are imported and amongst these products that can be recycled have recycling symbols with codes to identify what material they are made of to facilitate recycling. These codes are recycling nightmares.

The purpose of these recycling codes is to inform consumers what materials the packaging is made of but not how it can be recycled. Most consumers only check if recycling symbol is on the packaging. These recycling codes are practically useless because consumers will not fully understand what they mean until they research what each of these codes mean and then check with local councils if the particular material can be recycled in the local recycling facilities. States and territories have different recycling capabilities and these capabilities can differ from a local council to another because a standard waste recycling practice across Australia is not present. This creates an inconsistent recycling information that is confusing for consumers to learn.

Australasian Recycling Label Program

In 2018, the former Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price launched a new labelling system, Australasian Recycling Label, aims to combat the confusing recycling system for consumers. The ARL is an evidence-based system that provides easy to follow instructions on how to correctly dispose of each packaging component, and taking the guesswork out of consumers. ARL system is developed by Planet Ark, PREP Design and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. Packaging components are broken down to four components: box, tray, lid and wrap. Each of these components have either “recyclable” (recycle symbol), “conditionally recyclable” (variant of recycle symbol) or “not recyclable” (bin symbol) attached with them. The “conditionally recyclable” comes with further instruction such as “Check locally” or “Store drop off” depicting that consumers should follow these instructions to recycle the component. For instance, frozen meals from supermarkets have recyclable (box) collar made of cardboard, recyclable food tray (tray) but the plastic sheet (wrap) on top is not recyclable. The instructions and symbols are interchangeable, for example, the plastic wrapper for a Kit-Kat chocolate bar is recyclable by dropping it off to REDCycle bin at participating stores. To represent this information, the “conditionally recyclable” symbol is printed on the packaging with instruction “Store drop off”.

The ARL program is not a mandatory program for manufacturers means there are products on the supermarket shelves still use the simple recycling symbol and there is still confusion among consumers. Although it has 200 businesses joined the program since it was launched one year ago. This voluntary ARL program is dependent on brands to make a commitment to improve their corporate social responsibility practices and take initiative to join the program. For example, Nestlé Australia is one of Australia’s favourite brands, producing Australians’ favourite lollies. In 2018, Nestlé Australia rolled out their new packaging that includes the ARL symbol. However, there is no data available to support that ARL program has helped consumers increase their recycling behaviour.

The next phase of ARL is still to come in the near future. ARL is part of a bigger program working towards meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets agreed by the former Environment Minister. One of the four key targets is all Australia’s packaging will be 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Circular Economy of waste

The definition of sustainability is now changing to encompass the entire product lifecycle from raw material sourcing to package disposal or reuse. This is also the bread and butter of circular economy of waste. A circular economy of waste is utilising waste as a (sustainable) resource. “A circular economy retains the value of materials in the economy for as long as possible, reducing the unsustainable depletion of natural resources and impacts on the environment”. This circular economy begins with raw materials being harvested from natural resources. Manufacturers transformed raw materials into products. The products are then distributed to retailers and consumers buy the products from retailers. Consumers dispose of the products once they reach end-of-use. The products are then collected by waste facilities. The waste is sorted and distributed to either recycling, reuse or dispose. The recyclables are to be re-manufactured into new products (recycled content), reuse products are to be distributed for resale, and the disposed materials end up either as an energy source or waste in landfills. Better recovery, recycling and reusable practices are keys to establish an efficient and sustainable circular economy, where materials remains in the productive economy longer, or else the materials will end up as waste in landfills and more raw materials will be harvested from natural resources to an unsustainable depletion. Committing to the use of recycled content in packaging can drive the circular economy.

The American technology giant, Apple, has a good circular economy practice. Apple has established a Trade In program to collect old and end-of-life Apple products. The products are sent to Apple’s Material Recovery Lab to be disassembled and parts are recycled and reused. Apple reported that it uses 100% recycled aluminium to manufacture its Macbook Air and Mac mini. This remarkable achievement is the work of their engineers by creating a new alloy material that can recycled time after time without losing its quality. Apple is actively making steps towards a circular model of materials flows and demonstrating how to reclaim and reuse materials that might have ended up in landfills.

Australian Consumer Buying Behaviour

According to a recent research by Salmat and ACRS, “ethical consumerism is on the rise”. The research also found that more than 30% of shoppers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products, and not purchasing a product because of misaligned brand values and ethics. Mintel recently reported that they have found 32% of urban Australians prefer to buy products in eco-friendly packaging and one in three Australians say it is important for a brand to be sustainable. Buyers aged between 16–34 years old have the highest awareness of environmental friendly products when it comes to buying.

Each Australian produces 1 tonne of rubbish per year and by making better buying choices, they could reduce waste. This is the reason consumers put the onus back on brands to protect the environment because brands have more power to reduce the impact on the environment. For instance, Apple has sold 1.3 billion Apple iPhones by 2018. Without its Environment Policy and Trade-In Program, these phones no doubt would end up in landfills. Brands have a lot of responsibilities for better labelling on their packaging on the market because consumers care about the environment enough to make a buying choice based on the brand’s values and ethics towards this social issue.

A brand’s corporate social responsibility practices are becoming an important characteristic of a brand’s trustworthiness. Research has shown that when consumers are sceptical about a brand’s corporate social responsibility, it can impact on sales and damaging reputation. It is not always the case that consumers welcome their favourite brand’s commitment to reduce the company’s environmental footprints and impact. In 2018, McDonald’s announced that the fast-food chain giant will phase out plastic straws by 2020 in their efforts to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans after the War On Waste program tackled the issue of single-use plastic straws. This caused their customers’ angry outpouring of their dissatisfaction and the inconvenience caused on social media. Despite this backlash, McDonald’s is committed to reduce its environmental impact.

Conclusion: Service Design Challenge

It has been reported that Australia’s waste generation is on an increase over the last few years while recycling rate is slowly increasing. Australia’s recycling rate is over 40% compared to Germany, which recycles the most in the world, with a recycling rate of over 65%. Australia’s recycling rate does not align with Planet Ark’s survey where they reported that 90% of Australians think recycling is the right thing to do and they are passionate about recycling. Furthermore, a reported 50% of Australians are trying to reduce their waste. What is stopping Australians from recycling more?

The challenge Australians face is the inconsistent and confusing recycling information on product packaging. In addition, the current different recycling capabilities in states and territories means Australians are required to make contact with local councils to find out if their recycling facilities can recycle the products they are about the dispose in order to recycle correctly and not contaminate their kerbside recyclable waste. This extra step becomes a deterrent to encourage Australians to recycle more and better.

There is no regulation on the amount and types of recycling information must be disclosed by manufacturers and retailers on their packaging to inform and guide consumers on recycling. Consumers are becoming more environmentally aware and ethical, and they want to make an informed decision on the products they are buying from supermarkets.

Using service design thinking principles, this design project aims to develop and address the challenge by co-designing a service device that gives consumers the ability to find out how the packaging can be recycled before purchasing or disposing of the packaging.  

Reference List

1. Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. (2020). National Waste Policy: Less waste, more resources. Retrieved from https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/publications/national-waste-policy-less-waste-more-resources

2. Clean Up Australia. (2021). Recycling Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cleanup.org.au/recycling-facts

3. RecyclingNearYou. (2021). Recycling in Australia. Retrieved from https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/

4. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. (2021). About Us. Retrieved from https://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/about-us

5. Planet Ark. (2021). Recycling Labels. Retrieved from https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/labels/

6. Australian Council of Recycling. (2021). Policy & Advocacy. Retrieved from https://www.acor.org.au/policy-advocacy/

7. Australian Local Government Association. (2020). Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from https://alga.asn.au/policy-advocacy/environment-energy/waste-recycling/

8. Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia. (2021). Policy and Advocacy. Retrieved from https://www.wmrr.asn.au/Advocacy

9. Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy. (2018). National Waste Report 2018. Retrieved from https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/national-waste-reports/2018-national-waste-report

10. City of Sydney. (2021). Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/live/waste-and-recycling

11. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. (2022). 2022-2025 Action Plan. Retrieved from https://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/resources/2022-2025-action-plan

12. Victorian Government. (2021). Recycling and Waste Management. Retrieved from https://www.vic.gov.au/recycling-and-waste-management

13. NSW Environment Protection Authority. (2021). Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/waste

14. Queensland Government. (2021). Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/management/waste

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15. Western Australia Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. (2021). Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from https://www.wa.gov.au/government/waste-and-recycling