WASTE RECYCLING

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Conservation. How is the government progressing in meeting its target to reduce the amount of waste that South Australians send to landfill?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (14:49): The ambitious target that was set by the South Australian government in this area was to reduce the total amount of waste disposed to landfill by 25 per cent by 2014. A recently released report, 'Recycling Activity in South Australia', which, as the name suggests, summarises recycling activity in South Australia over 2007-08, concluded that our diversion rate—that is, the percentage that we divert away from landfill—has reached 69.8 per cent, up from 61.5 per cent in 2003-04, due primarily to South Australia's initiatives in recycling and reuse. The report showed that, as a component of the diversion of waste from landfill, there was a 7.3 per cent increase in recycling just in the year 2006-07 to 2007-08. That is 2.6 million tonnes of material that was recycled or recovered. Not only does this save landfill but it also makes more efficient use of materials and energy.

South Australia's recycling efforts in 2007-08 prevented the equivalent of 1.02 million tonnes of CO₂ entering the atmosphere, which is also equal to about 17 per cent of the annual CO₂ emissions from the entire South Australian transport sector, or equivalent to about 1,518,419 trees or taking 234,500 cars off the road. These are extraordinary achievements through the recycling effort.

We are obviously looking forward to the 2008-09 survey to see the effect of doubling our beverage container deposit, but because we are already seeing increases in recycling of these containers even without the increase we are expecting to see further increases in the future.

The great result in this survey reflects the fact that not only are South Australians concerned about our environment but they are also willing to act and make changes in the way in which they live to ensure that this recycling effort is improved. As members would know, the community has embraced the plastic bag ban, which has been a very successful initiative.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They are, actually. Despite those opposite predicting the end of the world, it is a very popular measure.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right. We will test it out, shall we? All these initiatives and the enthusiastic support we receive from the community means that the amount of waste that we take from landfill will continue to decrease.

We have another important initiative that is beginning to crank up, and that is the $3 million Recycling at Work program. I think that South Australians are proud of the fact that they are excellent recyclers, and we are continuing to take the lead on that not only in South Australia but also across the nation.