Nexus - 0202 - New Times Magazine-pages

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RUBBISH DISPOSAL COSTING THE EARTH? Written by Duncan Roads ew York investment bro- kers, Merrill Lynch have tipped (no pun intended) the waste management industry to be “the growth industry of the decade, with a capacity to outstrip the military-industrial com- plex of the Cold War era.” What we put in our garbage bins each week is the basis of a multi-bil- lion dollar industry globally, but we are throwing away so much garbage, that many cities in the world are liter- ally inundating themselves in the stuff. This is rapidly becoming the possi- bility for several major cities in Australia. To quote Tim Moore, Minister for the Environment, 'Worldwide, genera- tion of waste has reached critical lev- els in relation to available landfill space, the traditional method of waste disposal.' Our Councils outlay a total of near- ly $500 million every year to collect and dispose approximately 13 million tonnes of waste. (This does not include materials collected directly by Councils and charities for recycling). The situation is becoming so bad, that strong measures are being drawn up for both the industrial and domes- tic sectors to adhere to. Last month the Packaging Task Force set up by ANZEC (Australian & NZ Environment Council) warned packaging and packaged goods indus- tries to reduce the amount of packaging used by ten i kilos per person per year by the end of 1993. Several major compa- nies, such as Colgate- AY Palmolive have already “aE redesigned packaging of lif several product lines to ! help address the problem. But big business is not —_——. just to blame. Recent fig- ures show that ordinary ho use hold garba ge accounts for nearly 1/3 of the 3.5 mil- lion tonnes produced annually in Sydney. The problem is not made easier when one realises that it is cheaper to dispose of used materials than to reprocess or reuse them. In most Australian cities, charges for industrial waste are normally levied according to the quantity and type of waste and the cost of treat- ment, some creating some incentive for recycling industrial waste. According to the Report, many councils did not charge enough for waste disposal to cover costs, nor did disposal charges fully reflect the costs of environmental damage caused by the waste. Additionally, because householders pay for waste disposal through rates, and are not charged by quantity, there is no financial incentive to minimise waste and sort materials for recycling at the source. Many councils now consider the issue of garbage disposal so immedi- ate, they are prepared to sacrifice other council services to address it. In 1991, Woollahra Council in Sydney will pay at least $200,000 to maintain its recycling service. The slump in wastepaper prices means the council has had to subsidise this ser- vice by $105,000. That's $105,000 that won't be available for other coun- cil services. The sheer volume of rubbish gener- ated from home and industry is bring- ing many landfills to the end of their lifespan prematurely, in many cases 3 to 4 years earlier than expected. This means that Melbourne and Brisbane are facing the crunch now, while Sydney has about 2-3 years to address the biggest load of rubbish it has ever seen. That's over one tonne of domestic garbage per household per year! domestic garbage per . household per year! Although most recyclables already come from industry, the recently released Draft Report on Recycling prepared by the Industry Commission for the Federal Government is sug- gesting ways of further increasing the financial incentive to recycle and reuse. This same approach has already been adopted in many other countries in the domestic sector. In the US, some states either penalise “excess” household waste, or offer “cash bonuses” for reducing it. NEXUS - 8 Written by Duncan Roads That's over one tonne of Fe ee Vihon we get fack be the ssothership, fevel the slanet! YEAR BOOK - FEBRUARY 1991