Recycling in the ACT will soon get a major tech upgrade with the construction of a state-of-the-art sorting facility at Hume.
The federal government has delivered on a funding agreement signed with states and territories in 2020, with a combined $23 million going towards a new Materials Recovery Facility adjacent to the existing one.
It's hoped a new recovery facility, responsible for sorting the contents of Canberra's yellow bins, will take ACT recycling from 5 per cent contamination to 2 per cent, levels considered crucial for building Australia's waste reprocessing industry.
Advanced optical sorters and robotics will be required new equipment, reducing manual labour for the few employees who currently sort recycling by hand.
The funding was part of the Coalition's $190 million pledge to build new recycling infrastructure in Australia, with a target of diverting more than 10 million tonnes of plastic, paper and glass waste away from landfill, following the waste export plan.
Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek said meeting that target meant establishing a circular economy in Australia by promoting recycling, reusing and repairing as much as possible.
Ms Plibersek, who was accompanied at Hume on Monday by independent senator David Pocock, federal Labor members David Smith and Alicia Payne, as well as ACT City Services Minister Chris Steel, said benefits included financial savings on raw materials, reduced emissions from energy extraction and transport waste, as well as less material going to landfill.
Environment groups want waste reduction mandates for producers to be enforced, rather than relying on voluntary industry action.
Jeff Angel, Boomerang Alliance Director, said a circular economy meant making sure that everyone along the chain of production, consumption, disposal or recycling were working together.
"So far we've lacked a national concerted effort," Mr Angel said.
"The money can help, but it doesn't guarantee that targets are certain to be delivered.
"We certainly need a lot more effort on reducing wasteful consumption, but we can't fall into the trap of thinking it's only the consumers' job. It's not their decision to produce excessive packaging."
In addition to funding for the new sorting facility at Hume, the Commonwealth announced on Monday it will contribute $13 million for the construction of Canberra's new Food Organics and Garden Organics processing facility.
Required for the rollout of organic waste pickups beyond the Belconnen pilot, the facility will also be built at the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre in Hume.
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Tenders for both developments will go out before the end of the year, with design and construction expected to take around 18 months.
Minister Chris Steel said community feedback had indicated huge support for the pilot, despite households having had waste collections changed from weekly to fortnightly.
Mr Steel said the pilot had been more successful in diverting waste from landfill than trials in other councils and feedback would be considered before making a definitive call on bin collection changes.
"It is working, but we no doubt need to look at what improvements we can make," he said.
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