Dec 5, 2018
Our recyclables were quite contaminated, and so the Chinese had to spend some time and effort to really get rid of that, which increased the cost associated with it. So they've sort of said, 'Well, we don't want yours, because we've got enough and don't want all these dirty recyclables.' Other countries have followed suit. So this has left Australia in a position with a lot of recyclables, no market, and 'what do they do with it?' is really the question. "We've got to develop the market so businesses purchase the recyclables and use it to make the products, rather than using virgin plastics and virgin metals.
Dr Trevor Thornton, lecturer in hazardous-materials management at Melbourne's Deakin University