The Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) has just released its Australian Organics Recycling Industry “Capacity Assessment Report 2022/23”. This report is produced every second year, alternating with the Australian Organics Recycling Industry “The Economic Contribution of the Australian Organics Recycling Industry,” also commissioned by AORA. Both reports are produced by Australian Economic Advocacy Solutions for AORA.
As Australia transitions to a net-zero and circular economy, organics recycling is recognised as a key contributor to the success of this transition. With almost half of Australia’s waste stream comprising organics, the imperative to divert organics away from landfill continues to be a priority.
The report highlights:
A key metric of the latest “Capacity Assessment Report 2022/23” is how the Australian Organics Recycling Industry is positioned to reach the milestones of 70, 80, 90 and 95 percent national recycling rates for organics. A key outcome of the report’s analysis is that the industry is capable of processing an additional 61.1 per cent of organic materials (or 4.73 million of collective processing capacity each year) given the physical capacity of their existing operations. Only South Australia and the ACT are capable of meeting the required processing capacity for each of the 70, 80, 90 and 95 per cent organic recycling rates with other states/territories falling short on their processing capacity to varying degrees.
On the basis of the above there will be a requirement to either create new capacity among existing industry or promote new industry participants once existing capacity is exhausted. This will particularly be the case for organic material recycling in most rural and regional areas, where there is currently little or no way to deal with organic waste but to landfill it due to low capacity and infrastructure.
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