Waste and Resource Recovery Sector

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (15:07): My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. Will the minister inform the chamber about how the government is helping to create local jobs in the waste and resource recovery sector?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. South Australia has a very proud history of innovation in the waste management and sustainability sectors. This year, of course, and I think I have mentioned in this place previously, we are celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the nation's first container deposit scheme. We have also led the nation when we phased out lightweight checkout style plastic bags. This is a huge advance. Of course, that was led by my leader at the time, the Hon. Gail Gago. Championing this across the state, Mr President, I can remember her haranguing me about taking bags with me whilst I go shopping—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, she was encouraging me to take these reusable shopping bags out with me when I went shopping and to no longer use these lightweight checkout style plastic bags. It was down to her, and I congratulate her for that amazing initiative, which now is being rolled out right across the country, as people often do, copying our leadership.

Now, of course when you go to the shops it is a common sight to see people packing their own groceries into their reusable bags, cutting down on a pollution source that has been generally agreed to be quite devastating to marine and aquatic life. You often see photographs of turtles, for instance, trying to eat these plastic bags that float in the ocean. It is quite distressing. Because of these reforms, and others like it, and our strong leadership as a government, South Australians currently divert almost 80 per cent of all the waste that we generate.

These Labor reforms and the active engagement in this area from local government, industry and the community has helped to build and strengthen an industry that now is worth, I think, about a billion dollars in turnover, and the waste and resource industry employs more than 5,000 South Australians. Last year, this government responded to calls from the industry and announced more reforms to help grow the sector. At the time, the government was advised that the reforms would help to create around 350 jobs whilst also providing incentive for investment and helping to divert more waste away from landfill and into more productive uses.

The government is supporting these sectors through incentives from the newly created Green Industries SA, an agency that is building on the legacy of Zero Waste SA. For example, earlier this month I announced grant funding of more than $2.8 million to boost investment and jobs across our waste and resource recovery industries. Funding is from a four-year, $12 million reform program announced in last year's budget. It will see the government, through Green Industries SA, partner with councils, local businesses and not-for-profits and businesses from interstate on 18 significant projects.

The projects focus on areas such as advanced sorting equipment or technology that will reduce processing residuals and increase the range of materials to be recovered, radio frequency identification bins and reporting systems to improve data collection and measurements to support policy development and community education, equipment to remove contamination through automated systems for higher-value compost and fertiliser products from organic waste processing, balers to enable compacted materials to be more efficiently transported, and increased local processing facilities in regional areas.

Through these grants we have been able to leverage, I am told, about $10.9 million worth of investment from the private sector and these projects will result in the creation of more than 67 new local jobs. I am also advised that the City of Charles Sturt was successful in its application for a $150,000 grant under the program. This grant will be spent on site works in the resource recovery and waste transfer facility in a project with a total value of more than $2.8 million. I am also told that the new facility will be fully enclosed and be a flat floor facility receiving a number of waste streams with the capacity to handle over 20,000 tonnes of material per annum. The facility and new equipment are expected to result in a reduction of current waste to landfill rates by about 20 per cent at that site.

The Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority was another successful applicant. It is being provided with $300,000 towards a $4.1 million materials recovery facility and education centre. This project alone is expected to create 20 full-time equivalent jobs. I am advised that the project will see a 10 per cent reduction in the amount of material sent to landfill as a result of the improvement in material handling and processing equipment.

An amount of $300,000 was also awarded to U-Pull-It to enable them to purchase a second Kobelco car dismantler and additional car decontamination equipment. U-Pull-It aim to use this new equipment to increase the number of end-of-life vehicles recycled from 10,000 per annum to 15,000 per annum. They also expect to see the percentage of materials recycled per car rise from 84 per cent to 90 per cent. These are just a few examples of the grants awarded. These grants encompass projects right across the state. They provide examples of the state government's commitment to creating local jobs for South Australians whilst also supporting our waste management sector and the broader community to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.