Regional 3R Forum

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about the United Nations seventh regional 3R forum currently being held in Adelaide?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:12): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Yesterday, I was very honoured to join the Premier as he opened the first session for the seventh regional 3R forum in Asia and the Pacific—UN3R. There was a noticeable, palpable, air of excitement in the room, and anticipation about the benefits that this event—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Not for your speech, surely.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: So unkind, Michelle—was going to bring to Adelaide. Excitement about three days of collaboration, exchanging ideas and sharing innovation in the 3Rs: reduce, re-use and recycle. Excitement about the opportunity for South Australian businesses to showcase our world-leading technical expertise in waste management, and excitement about having 350 delegates from around the world looking to collaborate with government and business to create new jobs.

The breadth and depth of South Australia's waste industry expertise is incredibly extensive. It ranges from commercial composting and design of integrated resource recovery centres to integration of new technologies and zero waste policies and strategies. What a fantastic opportunity for South Australia to host such an important and internationally significant event. We have experts from around the world right here in Adelaide discussing the future opportunities for the waste management sector.

Of course, it is a great opportunity for our own local waste industry to export its talents and take advantage of these other countries being here and showcasing exactly what those companies can do. As a state—and I am sure this part of the recognition as to why the conference was brought to Adelaide—we have achieved incredible recycling rates: amongst the world's best. South Australia is currently diverting almost 80 per cent of all waste generated away from landfill. The percentage of waste diverted from landfill has increased dramatically over recent years. This is despite the overall amount of waste being generated steadily increasing, of course, in line with population growth.

It is very important that we remain focused on long-term sustainability in the waste management sector. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and be happy where we are. We have to keep pushing the boundaries. On that front, South Australia is celebrating another exciting anniversary this year, and that is 50 years of Kesab. Kesab has been at the forefront of Adelaide's reputation as one of the world's most liveable cities. Just over 40 years ago they led the charge for the nation's first container deposit scheme. It has taken that long for other states to catch up.

I have spoken before about the strange feeling of going into a supermarket interstate and being bombarded with disposable shopping bags being thrown at you. It is due to the fantastic policy initiative by the Hon. Gail Gago, when she was minister, that we in South Australia have now changed consumer behaviour. Strong action by the Hon. Gail Gago and the state government, and the community demanding this of us, saw us phase-out lightweight checkout style plastic bags in 2009. Since then we have seen a huge increase in re-usable shopping bags.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: They are functional. In the words of the great Tim Minchin, 'Take your canvas bags, take your canvas bags, take your canvas bags to the supermarket.' It is a reminder of how dramatic the change has been in community attitudes towards the importance of protecting our environment that Tim Minchin would pen words to a song about it. Today, South Australians overwhelmingly support the disposable plastic bag ban.

I am advised that in 2013, researcher Dr Anne Sharp, from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, said that most people supported the plastic bag ban and that shoppers remembered to bring their own bags to the supermarket in eight out of 10 trips—eight out of 10 trips. We have seen the same sort of result, I am advised, in the ACT where a review between 2012 and 2014 found that more than 70 per cent of the people surveyed did not want the 2011 ban overturned. Furthermore, I am advised that 65 per cent of Canberra grocery shoppers supported the ban for environmental reasons and agreed that it had a positive effect on the environment.

So, South Australia's bold policy initiatives and leadership, brought into this place and into our state by the Hon. Gail Gago, are being recognised right around the country and being emulated. When we set bold and ambitious policies, as we do, whether it be the phasing-out of plastic bags, our target for zero net carbon emissions by 2050, or Carbon Neutral Adelaide, it is our local economy that wins and our local community also.

Our waste sector employs around 5,000 people in South Australia. It has an annual turnover of about $1 billion and contributes about half of that to gross state product directly and indirectly, I am advised. We support more than 50 local companies reprocessing paper, metal, glass, plastic, concrete, asphalt, timber, electronic waste and, of course, organics. Further opportunities exist in the relatively new waste sectors, such as electronic waste, mixed plastics, PV cells and new building products, particularly those building products that are a composite of certain materials.

By hosting the UN 3R conference in Adelaide—and I understand that this is the first time this conference, a prestigious international conference under the auspices of the United Nations, has ever been held outside of a national capital city. This is the first time and it is because of the recognition of South Australia and our leading policies that we were invited to host this conference.

We are positioning our state to take full advantage of all the new opportunities in waste management. We are working very closely with the private sector and working very closely with our community advocates, such as Kesab, to make sure that we drive continued adherence to our plans to reduce, recycle and re-use because a sustainable society requires us to embrace those principles into the future.

I am sure that the whole parliament will acknowledge the great work done by Kesab and by Green Industries South Australia to change the way that we think about waste in this state. I am sure we are all pleased to thank Green Industries SA for the great work it has done in facilitating this conference coming to South Australia so that we can showcase our world-leading capabilities to the region.