Rawson was concerned about the departments’ criterion for shredded plastic, specifically the “almost free of contamination” part, which he described as very vague and susceptible to loopholes.
“Is that fully washed, is that shaking the dust off it?” he said. “It’s open to interpretation.”
Materials for recycling at the Australian Soft Plastics Recycling facility (Austsing enterpise) in Pakenham. Credit: Joe Armao
“Onshore we’re fully washing it to get it nice and clean, but this change potentially allows people just to shake the dust off and send it overseas. That completely undermines all that investment in the high-end plastic cleaning and processing, equipment that people have installed to undertake this task locally.”
Both Rawson and Townsend were concerned about the impact on Australia’s domestic recycling industry and the consequence of reduced feedstock. “It creates a very low-cost outlet for the plastic into a market that we don’t really know or understand,” Rawson said.
“Overseas, we have no control over what happens to that plastic, whether it’s burnt or whether it’s processed. We are not aware of any oversight as to what further processes or end purposes the plastics may be subject to once exported.”
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Tim Welsh, chief executive officer of PreOne Australia – a company that develops recycling technology – said he had “no issue” with exporting shredded soft plastic overseas, adding that Australia needed to be a player in the global market.
However, he said the criteria needed to be “clearly defined” to prevent loopholes from being exploited. “For me, it needs to be washed to meet that cleaned requirement,” he said.
“Then the next step is how is it enforced and checked,” he continued. “There are clearly going to be examples where people are not following the process. So if the government is going to provide licenses or permission for companies to export shredded soft plastics, how do they plan to maintain those standards?”
In response to questions from this masthead a DCCEEW spokesperson said the department had not changed the policy governing the waste exports regulations, but “recently assessed a licence application to be within the requirements of the RAWR Act and Plastic Rules”.
“The RAWR Act requires waste plastic to be cleaned and almost free from contamination, sorted into a single polymer, and transformed into forms that are ready for remanufacture,” they said in a statement. “To date these forms have included pellets, flakes for rigid plastics, and recently small shred for flexible plastics.
“However, the legislation is not prescriptive about the form into which plastic is processed which allows for innovation in the sector.”
Australian Council of Recycling chief executive officer Suzanne Toumbourou said she was waiting to get further clarification on the department’s decision, but emphasised “uncertainly around policy and how regulations work undermined investment in Australian recycling infrastructure”.
Townsend said the government’s decision “rewarded waste traders over manufacturers” and created an uneven playing field for domestic recycling companies.
“Allowing dry shredded plastic to be exported undermines the viability of mechanical recyclers like us who have invested in local infrastructure to divert soft plastics from landfill and convert them into remanufacturable materials,” Townsend said.
“If shredding is now considered sufficient processing for export, it sends a signal that value-adding domestically is no longer supported or incentivised by the federal government.”
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