Nation Waste Policy: Less Waste, More Resources 2018.

The Nation Waste Policy: Less Waste, More Resources 2018 (2018 National Waste Policy) provides a framework for collective action by businesses, governments, communities and individuals until 2030. This policy supports Australia’s engagement in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production and builds on the 2009 National Waste Policy: Less waste, more resources.
The 2018 National Waste Policy incorporates the five principles of circular economy and identifies the following strategies. Principle 1, Avoid Waste, is achieved through Strategies 1 to 3. Strategy 1 (Waste avoidance): Deliver coordinated actions that help the community and businesses avoid and minimise waste, including through better design, reuse, repair, and sharing of products and services. Strategy 2 (Design): Design systems and products to avoid waste, conserve resources and maximise the value of all materials used at every stage of a product’s life. Strategy 3 (Knowledge sharing, education and behaviour change): Implement coordinated knowledge sharing and education initiatives, focused on the waste hierarchy and the circular economy, that address the needs of governments, businesses and individuals, and encourages the redesign, reuse, repair, resource recovery, recycling and reprocessing of products. Principle 2, Improve resource recovery is achieved through Strategies 4 to 7. Strategy 4 (Product stewardship): Develop and implement partnerships across government and business to ensure ownership and responsibility for action to minimise the negative impacts from products, ensure the minimisation of waste and maximise reuse, repair and recycling of products and materials throughout their life cycle. Strategy 5 (A common approach): Implement a common approach towards waste policy and regulation, particularly in relation to national opportunities to support development of markets for recycling. Strategy 6 (Improving access): Identify and improve regional, remote and Indigenous communities’ ability to access, influence and participate in a circular economy. Strategy 7 (Increasing industry capacity): Identify and address opportunities across municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste, and construction and demolition waste streams for improved collection, recycling and energy recovery, to deliver ongoing improvements in diversion from landfill, improved quality of recycled content and use of the waste hierarchy.
Principle 3, Increase use of recycled material and build demand and markets for recycled products, is achieved through Strategies 8 and 9. Strategy 8 (Sustainable procurement by governments): All Australian governments consider environmental issues in their approach to goods and infrastructure procurement and promote demand for recycled materials and products containing recycled content. Strategy 9 (Sustainable procurement by business and individuals) Businesses and individuals in Australia take environmental issues into account when purchasing or manufacturing goods and services, and promote domestic demand for recycled materials and products containing recycled content. Principle 4, Better manage material flows to benefit human health, the environment and the economy, is achieved through Strategies 10 and 12. Strategy 10 ( Plastics and packaging): Reduce the impacts of plastic and packaging on the environment and oceans, reduce plastic pollution, and maximise benefit to the economy and society. Strategy 11 ( Sound management of chemicals and hazardous waste): Manage and regulate chemicals and wastes throughout their lifecycle to minimise environmental and human health impacts and meet Australia’s national and international obligations. Strategy 12 (Reduce organic waste): Reduce organic waste, including garden and food waste, by avoiding their generation and supporting diversion away from landfill into soils and other uses, supported by appropriate infrastructure. Principle 5, Improve information to support innovation, guide investment and enable informed consumer decisions, is achieved through Strategies 10 and 1. Strategy 13 ( Data and reporting): Continue to support consumers and manufacturers to make more informed decisions by improving national data and reporting on material flows, wastes and recycling, including economic aspects and reporting indices. Strategy 14 (Market development and research): All Australian governments and businesses generate and report information to support creating and maintaining markets for recycled materials, both domestically and internationally