Queensland is set to scale up its waste recycling infrastructure with an $80 million combined investment to transform and grow the state’s waste and recycling industries.
The Australian and Queensland governments will each invest $20 million in the $40 million Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF). Queensland industries will match this funding, delivering a total of $80 million in new investment for the state.
“The projects funded will help protect the environment, boost the economy and create jobs in Queensland,” says Sussan Ley, Federal Minister for the Environment.
“The RMF is the centrepiece of the Australian government’s $1 billion transformation of Australia’s waste and recycling industries, which will ensure that Australia has sufficient recycling infrastructure in place to reprocess our valuable waste resources.
“This investment will lead to more unprocessed waste materials now being recycled every year in Queensland and made into new products, following our ban on exporting waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres overseas.”
According to Trevor Evans, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction, as Queensland’s population continues to grow, there is a pressing need for modern, state-of-the-art recycling solutions, and recycling stands to become a boom industry for the state.
“This new funding means that Queensland can take advantage of the most recent technological innovations in the recycling space,” Evans says.
“The result will be that we recycle more, better protect the environment, and support new jobs.
“Our waste is a valuable product, not a problem that needs to be solved or put into landfill and forgotten. We must use it to create jobs, spark innovation, and deliver strong environmental outcomes.”
The $190 million RMF investment, and associated measures to support Australia’s National Waste Policy Action Plan, will create approximately 10,000 new jobs across Australia over the next 10 years.
Additionally, it will divert 10 million tonnes of waste each year, which will no longer go to landfill.
