Australia Plans to Phase Out Scrap Plastic, Paper Exports

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The government has announced introduction of a new legislation that would ban scrap exports including plastic, paper, glass and tires from Australia, in a phased manner beginning January next year.

The legislation introduced in the Australian Parliament yesterday aims to put an end to unprocessed trash that the country exports to overseas countries, especially to countries in the Asian region. As per estimates, the country exports approximately 645,000 metric tons of such trash every year. As the first step, the exports of waste glass would be prohibited effective January 2021, said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

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The government intends to reuse or recycle the waste domestically. Towards this cause, the legislation proposes to establish a national industry framework for recycling and create A$190 million recycling modernization fund. The above said fund will be utilized towards expansion of the recycling infrastructure network and modernization of recycling equipment. The companies who incorporate recyclability feature in their products and take responsibility of responsible recycling of the same at the end of their lives would be offered more incentives.

The new initiative is expected to generate around 10,000 new jobs. In addition, it would ensure notable improvement to the quality of environment.