Waste SA Conference

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about the recent Waste SA conference and the really positive contribution that the waste management sector makes to South Australia?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Last Thursday, I had the great pleasure of attending the Waste Management Association of Australia's Waste SA 2016 Conference. The conference focused on the new state waste strategy and regulatory reform. Guests heard from a number of excellent speakers who discussed investment, infrastructure, innovation and learning in the waste management sector.

The conference was opened by the Mayor of Holdfast Bay, Mr Stephen Patterson, and he talked with great pride about his progressive and environmentally-aware council. Mayor Patterson, speaking to some 200 delegates who attended the conference, highlighted how the green economy was alive and well in his area, and spoke with real passion and pride about initiatives and progress his council has been making.

Mayor Patterson said his council had recorded around a 16 per cent increase in green organic waste, following a grant from the state government for green baskets for residents. That is a phenomenal result. That is 16 per cent less landfill from the City of Holdfast Bay residents; as Mayor Patterson described it, around 230,000 large watermelons' worth of waste. I have never used the watermelon as a standard unit of measurement before, so that is a new one for me. Two hundred and thirty thousand large watermelons' worth of waste is now being diverted away from landfill.

Mayor Patterson also spoke of how the City of Holdfast Bay was working with residents and tourists to incentivise waste programs. Residents have the opportunity to win $100 Jetty Road gift cards for simply separating their waste properly. Mayor Patterson said they increased their waste diversion rate by around 60 per cent.

Tourists and visitors to the City of Holdfast Bay were getting involved in the eco-shopper campaign, which provides shoppers with discounts from a list of cafes and shops when shoppers think in an eco-friendly manner, such as discounts when you bring your own cup for coffee or tea. This is because we know there are hundreds of thousands of disposable coffee cups that end up in landfill each year.

I am very pleased that local councils, like the City of Holdfast Bay, are getting involved in wanting to improve waste management in their areas, innovating, incentivising their community and raising these very important issues with residents and the broader community.

I hope that delegates who attended the conference from other councils might look at adopting similar programs and also speak about their own initiatives. We know that these conferences build relationships that allow this cross-fertilisation between councils and a sharing of ideas and programs that are working and those that are not working quite so well. These relationships also add value to the government's decision-making and understanding of critical issues affecting the waste sector.

The waste sector is crucial to our environmental programs and diverting waste from landfill, but we also know that the waste and resource recovery sector is an important contributor to the South Australian economy in its own right. It has an annual turnover, I am advised, of around $1 billion, contributes half a billion dollars to gross state product directly and indirectly, and employs around 5,000 people.

Our state is a leader at both a national and an international level on waste management and resource recovery. We have achieved recycling rates that are among the world's best, with South Australians currently diverting almost 80 per cent of all waste that is generated. We have continued to show innovation and lead the nation in policies and programs, such as the plastic bag ban and the waste to resources policy, which bans certain waste, including electronic waste and light globes from landfill and, of course, there is our iconic container deposit legislation that has seen South Australia continue to outrank other states and territories in the prevention of beverage containers in the litter stream.

It is good to see that Western Australia has finally jumped on the bandwagon and decided to implement a container deposit scheme, along with Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and the Northern Territory. They are all trying to catch up to what we did in this state back in the seventies. There is hope, I hope, for Victoria and Tasmania to get on board.

Certainly, from the industry sector's point of view, trying to operate two different policies on beverage containers might have been possible when South Australia was out there on its own or even when South Australia and the Northern Territory were doing it, but when you have Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales on board, the balance shifts very much towards a national beverage container program and that is clearly where we are going to be heading.

Recognising South Australia's achievements, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development's 7^th Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific will be held in November this year in Adelaide. Hosting this prestigious event is a first for Australia and recognises our state's global leadership in waste management reform. We are expecting representatives from over 30 countries to travel to Adelaide for this conference.

There is certainly a lot for us to be proud of in this state, but we will continue to turn our attention to contemporary and emerging problems and strive to create an environmentally sustainable future for our state. South Australia has, of course, the bold ambition of becoming the world's first carbon-neutral city. As well as low carbon forms of transport and renewable energy, waste management and recycling will be a key part in achieving this ambition. There are many opportunities in the waste and resource recovery sector that the government is committed to helping reach their full potential.

The government has established a new agency, Green Industries SA (GISA), that will build on the many successes of Zero Waste. The new agency will continue to provide advice on better waste management processes and resource efficiencies, but will also keep South Australia at the forefront of green innovation, developing the circular economy and assisting businesses to find new overseas markets for their skills and expertise. Last November, the government released its third waste strategy for the state. Previous strategies have helped the sector grow and resulted in positive environmental outcomes.

Achievements include the rollout of high performing kerbside recycling systems, investment in important waste infrastructure, improvements in the recovery of materials from regional areas, industry resource efficiency and commercial recycling incentives. The new waste strategy covering 2015 to 2020 continues to advocate for high levels of recycling and re-use of waste through targets and actions to reduce waste to landfill, requiring innovative policy and regulatory solutions. It includes objectives for a resources-efficient economy, a stable and efficient market for investors and a culture that enables South Australians to implement zero waste programs.

The aim of South Australia's Waste Strategy 2015-2020 is to help South Australian businesses become even more resource-efficient, more resilient and more competitive, to help secure economic advantage and grow our prosperity, while at the same time reducing harm to the environment. More than ever before, the success and implementation of our waste strategy will be required to be a shared responsibility across governments (state and local), businesses, industry and, of course, most importantly, our community. That is why the Waste Management Association of Australia should be congratulated for organising the Waste South Australia Conference.

In July, I encouraged women working in the industry to nominate for a new award which recognises their positive contribution to the sector. The Office of Green Industries SA's Women in Waste Leadership Award has been established in memory of former Zero Waste SA board member Ms Pam Keating, a waste management expert and passionate environmentalist who tragically died in a car accident in 2009. One of the highlights of the conference was the opportunity to present the inaugural Office of Green Industries SA's Women in Waste Leadership Award to Ms Fiona Jenkins, Coordinator, Waste and Sustainability, at the City of Charles Sturt.

Fiona's project will research how local government can improve the performance of kerbside systems for recycling and organic material by examining different systems and approaches used in Australia, Portland, Oregon in the US and, of course, Flanders in Europe. I would like to congratulate Fiona and all the other high quality applicants for their contribution to keeping South Australia's waste and resource recovery sector at the forefront of innovation. I would again like to thank the Waste Management Association of Australia for hosting such a successful conference in South Australia.