Canberra is to lead the way as a sustainable, net-zero waste city under a new draft circular economy strategy from City Services.
Opening the draft ACT Circular Economy Strategy 2022-25 for consultation, the Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel said the draft Strategy outlined a new vision for building Canberra’s circular economy by bringing together Government, industry, business and the community to keep valuable materials in use for as long as possible.
Mr Steel said the draft Strategy identified five key focus areas.
“These include food and organics, the built environment, consumer goods, emerging and problematic waste streams, and creating space to showcase our commitment to the circular economy,” Mr Steel said.
“Food and organics is a priority for the Government in building a circular economy and bringing down waste emissions,” he said.
“Ahead of the rollout of Canberra-wide Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection, we are kickstarting a conversation with food businesses about mandating organic waste being diverted from landfill and reducing the amount of this waste being created in the first place.”
Mr Steel said the Strategy proposed to use combined ACT and NSW Government procurement as a lever to mandate the use of sustainable and recycled materials in infrastructure.
He said it also canvasses opportunities at the start of the supply chain to encourage greater action on the circular economy from producers and importers of goods.
“The availability of land for the circular economy to thrive is a key challenge for the ACT,” the Minister said.
“Identifying more land for an ACT circular economy innovation hub is one idea proposed to support jobs, research and start-ups to be able to implement their ideas and scale-up their operations to extend the life of the ACT’s resources.”
Mr Steel said Canberrans could have their say on the draft Strategy until 8 December.
City Services’ 33-page draft ACT Circular Economy Strategy 2022-25 can be accessed for information or comment at this PS News link.
