Australia’s attitudes about waste and resource management have shifted. The value of resources and embodied energy in waste are now recognised. There is an economic opportunity and growing desire to see our resources recaptured and recirculated within our economy.

Waste management, recycling and material recovery activities are a significant part of Australia’s economy. We need to reduce the amount of waste we generate and accelerate the recovery rate of our resources.

In 2014–15, waste management services in Australia were valued at $12.6 billion, and sale of recovered materials was valued at $2.9 billion. Waste-related activities added a total value of $6.9 billion to the economy, accounting for 0.43 per cent of GDP.

Around 50,000 people are directly employed in waste related activities, including employees in the waste and material recovery industries, the business sector and local governments.

For every 10,000 tonnes of waste that is recycled, 9.2 jobs are created (compared with 2.8 jobs if the same amount of waste was sent to landfill).

Better management of waste can have financial benefit for everyday Australians. For example, Australian households spend between $2200 and $3800 per year on food that becomes waste.

Moving to a more circular economy has the potential to create new jobs and benefit the economy overall.

Better waste management also helps reduce health and environmental problems and prevent pollution of our land and oceans. It will help address increasing volumes of plastics in the marine environment, now estimated globally to be upward of 150 million tonnes.