Waste solutions for the commercial sector and recycling bins in town centres are key initiatives of the Greens Waste policy, announced today by candidate for Molonglo, Shane Rattenbury.

“At present the commercial sector sends around 30,000 tonnes of waste to landfill each year, and the government does not offer any waste solutions to the commercial sector,” said Rattenbury. “This inevitably leads to most buildings have on average one hopper, or one system for landfill and one for paper at best, meaning minimal recycling.”

“The Greens would like to see the Government offer a recycling scheme which runs throughout town centres and includes the commercial sector. Each building should be provided with 4 hoppers – one each for landfill, glass and plastic containers, paper and cardboard, and organic waste.”

“The cost of commercial rates can be increased slightly to reflect this cost if need be, which would not affect the bottom line of business owners, as they would not need to pay for as many hoppers to landfill anymore.”

The Greens also want to see recycling bins installed at street level across town centres.

“Many cities and small towns throughout Australia now have urban recycling schemes in their town centres, yet Canberrans are not given the opportunity to dispose of their drink bottles or paper waste responsibly. It begs the question why not?”

“There has been a yellow recycling bin “Trial” in Glebe Park since February 2006, yet the government has not indicated when it will move forward on a wider roll-out. It seems the government is not serious on delivering on the No Waste strategy.”

“The argument that there would be too much contamination of non-recyclables in these bins does not hold, as provided the 2 bins are put side by side, convenience is equal and people already understand how to separate their rubbish as they do it at home.”

The Greens also want a green waste kerbside collection service introduced.

“We are pleased to see that the Liberal Party has also adopted this policy position, although we have some concerns about their approach. Our understanding is that garden waste should be handled separately to kitchen organic waste, as garden waste can simply be mulched for reuse in gardens, but organic waste need to be composted at high temperatures to ensure that all bacteria are eliminated. This is something that clearly needs further discussion.”

ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey will move a motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly today calling on the ACT Government to implement the Commissioner for the Environment’s recommendations for more action on waste.

“We’ve been wasting time on waste for far too long” Dr Foskey said today.

“Our waste policy is labelled no waste by 2010. Lately it has become something more like waste time till 2010.”

“Key areas we need to see action on are business waste, green waste, public place recycling and e-waste.”

“The Greens have been pushing for proactive action in these areas since this Government came to power.”

“Now the Commissioner for the Environment, in the just released State for the Environment Report, has made the point that when it comes to total waste, the ACT is moving in the wrong direction.”

“Let’s not waste time. It is time to act on waste in the ACT” Dr Foskey said.

ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey criticised the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services for refusing to release a review of the ACT Government’s No Waste Strategy.

“If we really want a no waste plan, we need to recycle the Minister” Dr Foskey said today.

“The review of the No Waste Strategy was completed at the end of May. In answer my question in the Assembly today Minister Hargreaves said he wouldn’t release it. I imagine it damns him for wasting time.”

“The State of the Environment report released today made it clear that while we are good recyclers in Canberra we are even better at generating waste.”

“Until this Minister is prepared to offer some leadership on home and garden waste collection, and improved recycling for businesses and in public places, we will continue to move in the wrong direction.”

“Today when I asked the Minister what changes the Government was making to that Strategy he refused to answer.”

“That might be because he has no idea what was happening with the review and the action plan for the next few years, or because he is so embarrassed at what he has failed to deliver.”

“The ACT is not well served by the current Minister for Waste who has been wasting time on this issue for years” Dr Foskey said.