ENVIRONMENT LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND OTHER MATTERS) BILL 2023

Thank you Speaker, it’s my pleasure to rise today in support of the Environment Legislation Amendment (Circular Economy and Other Matters) Bill 2023.

This legislation is not just about policies or practices. It is about values.

The values that drive us to prioritise our environment, our communities, and the sustainable future of Victoria.

Because it’s easy to talk about climate action – but it’s quite another to do the work to get on with the real policy and legislation that will make a tangible difference.

And that’s what we have before us – amendments which clarify and streamline and support the operation of the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme.

And this is an exciting scheme, Speaker.

Certainly in my community in the inner north, which in many ways is at the forefront of innovative recycling and sustainability initiatives, it has been eagerly anticipated.

As of this month, Victorians right across our state will see cans, bottles and cartons in a new light.

We’re now able to gather them up and head to a refund location, pop them into a reverse vending machine or hand them over the counter.

Depending on the refund point, people can choose whether they want to receive the refund in the form of cash, a retail voucher, or an electronic refund.

Victorians can also choose to donate their refund to a charity or community organisation registered with the scheme.

And that is a really important opportunity for Victorian charities, for local organisations, sporting clubs or environmental groups, to be able to share in the cash benefits of recycling and be part of the cultural and educational change that we need.

Speaker we’ve learnt a lot about recycling and sustainability over the last decade. Understanding the importance of separating organics, or separating glass at the kerb have been a relatively new additions to our collective consciousness.

The momentum around keep-cups, woven shopping bags, or removing single-use plastics have all been embraced by Victorians.

This is the next iteration of our collective efforts and our shared values, and our dedication to reducing waste and litter in our state.

And I have no doubt that it will be embraced by communities right across our suburbs.

I know that those opposite have argued that we should have delayed the scheme, or the scheme should have been different, or operated differently – but right now, the scheme is open, there are already over 350 refund locations and that will only build in the coming months.

Victorians right now are benefiting from the CDS and the environment is right now benefiting from it. Yesterday there were more than a million containers recycled – this is a massive success already and there is no good reason to delay.

In my community in Northcote, there are a range of sites currently available for residents to go to get their refunds and you can find them by visiting cdsvic.org.au.

But for ease, I’ll list some of them now as well:

Over-the-counter sites include Julines Noodle House in Northcote, Upside Liquor in Thornbury, Café Barea in Preston and the IGA on Johnston St in Abbotsford.

For depots, our closest one is at Envirobank Preston, and for Reverse Vending Machines we can now take containers to Visy Recycling in Reservoir, or the Merri-bek Council Carpark on Sydney Rd.

In the coming months, I look forward to seeing Darebin City Council working with our network operator Visy to confirm more sites across our suburbs so our community can access and participate in this important scheme closer to home.

I know this scoping is currently underway and I encourage local government, as well as the owners of large private sites like supermarkets, to be active participants in this.

Reducing waste and recycling is truly a community effort – and this scheme is just one part of our mission to divert 80% of all waste from landfill by 2030.

Speaker, it may not seem like it at first, but the 10 cent per item refund is actually an incredibly important behaviour change incentive.

If you’ve ever been part of a litter pick up, like the ones I have done regularly along the Merri Creek in my community, you will be confronted by the number of cans and bottles that have been discarded into our natural environment.

These are sensitive creek ecosystems, and its heartbreaking when you come back with a sack full of bottles and cans and cartons, knowing the impact of this.

If the 10 cent refund label on the side of a bottle can make the difference at that point in time when a person makes that split-second choice to toss the bottle or hold onto it – then this scheme is worthy of our support and our investment.

Because its those micro-choices that cumulatively will allow us to not just reach our climate change goals, but to create that generational behaviour change which is needed to embed sustainability values in the long term.

And I do want to acknowledge the grassroots leadership of Friends of the Merri Creek, local scouts and others organisations who have been involved for many years in community clean up initiatives.

Speaker, leadership comes in a myriad of forms. Sometimes its leadership through government, with important overarching policies like the four-bin system, the CDS, plastic bans and investing in the circular economy.

Sometimes it’s at a more local level – like the work being done by a group of local residents in Fairfield to encourage local residents and businesses to embrace reusables.

Amelia Trompf, one of the organisers, met up with me last week to show me a fantastic exhibit she’s put up at Fairfield Library to demonstrate things like reusable party decorations, home-made bread bags and produce bags, and reusing children’s artwork as wrapping paper.

It was also fantastic to see so many local businesses, like Harvest Foodstore, Three Locals, Bean Counter Cafe, Fifteen Pounds and A1 bakery in Fairfield all contributing in their own creative ways to our sustainable suburbs with things like produce bags, BYO containers and Wangim cups.

Sometimes, Speaker, leadership also comes from our inspiring young people.

Recently a group of Year 6 students at Westgarth Primary, Adele Lenne, James Craven, Evie Wear and Sarah Freer, wrote to me to share their concerns about the little plastic stickers found on fruit and vegetables at the supermarket.

What a fantastic issue to raise, Speaker!

These small plastic stickers may seem inconsequential, but when you think about the cumulative scale of all the fruit and vegetables going through our supermarkets – you begin to get a sense of the waste generated by these stickers.

Adele, James, Evie and Sarah had some great suggestions for tackling this issue – including using artificial intelligence to scan the fruit or vegetable to find the information you need digitally.

I want to thank these students for their innovative thinking – and let them know that I have written to both the Minister for Environment and the CEO of Sustainability Victoria to convey their wonderful ideas.

Speaker, I’m incredibly proud to see real community leadership and local efforts propelling the circular economy forward.

The Container Deposit Scheme can only augment that work – giving local families, local organisation, local schools and businesses yet another opportunity to make a difference.

Victorians are innovative and adaptive.

We know we need to move on from a culture of take, use, dispose.

We need a genuinely circular economy I will continue to do everything in my power to promote and elevate these efforts.

The Container Deposit Scheme isn’t just about bottles, can and cartons.

It’s about creating future where every product has continued value, and no resource is wasted.

In the time that I have left, Speaker, I just want to highlight the economic aspects of the Container Deposit Scheme.

Because as much as this is exceptional environmental policy, it is also wonderful economic policy.

A 10 cent refund for every eligible drink container returned places money straight back into the hands of Victorians and Victorian organisations and charities.

And beyond this direct financial benefit, this policy is set to create over 4,000 jobs.

Jobs right across every part of our state, metro and regional. Jobs that are part of our circular economy.

As our population increases, Speaker, as our suburbs densify, as our state grows, initiatives like this are more important than ever.

Our long term success as a community depends on embedding sustainability into the very fabric of our suburbs and our behaviours.

This Bill and the CDS scheme encapsulates that spirit of collaboration, of fostering partnerships between business and community, of encouraging innovation and new technologies, and of creating new markets for recycled materials across our state.

Speaker, as we debate this Bill, let us remember that the onus is upon us, as representatives our communities, to pave the way for a future that our children can proudly inherit.

A future where the environment is treasured, where sustainability is not just a buzzword but a way of life, and where Victoria stands tall as a beacon of change and hope.

In closing, thank the current and previous Ministers for the Environment for driving forward this policy – to their offices and departments.

I look forward to seeing us propel Victoria into a future where every resource counts, every effort is cherished, and every step we take echoes our commitment to the environment and the well-being of future generations.

I commend the Bill to the House.

Thank you.