As we continue to advocate for improvements to Queensland’s waste management and recycling capabilities, below is a collation on avenues currently being pursued in these efforts.

Recycling Plastics

Following the 2024 State Election, we provided the new Queensland Minister of Environment with information and requests regarding our advocacies, including the need to reduce and develop greater recycling capabilites for plastics hard and soft, such as those found in our waterways

In response, the minister provided the below response in italics, which outlines that a trial of soft plastics collection is currently being scoped.

Plastics recycling is one of the Government’s key priorities to reduce litter across our natural environment. Sustainable long-term solutions to address plastic waste need to consider broader strategies such as avoidance and reuse behaviours, research into suitable alternatives to single-use plastics, building resource recovery capacity, and supporting recycling and remanufacturing across Queensland.

A trial of soft plastics collection is currently being scoped in Queensland in collaboration with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia Limited. This soft plastics collection trial will need to test different collection options, identify local processing options and explore potential end markets for recycled product.

The Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning is also responsible for administering the Recycling Modernisation Fund Plastics Technology stream, which aims to significantly increase recycling and recovery rates of hard-to-recycle plastics.

We have requested an update on the trial, as well on what investigations are underway into plastic polymer to address challenges. In addition are making inquiries on the National Plastics Recycling Scheme . We will update once a response has been received and will continue to monitor progress.

Containers for Change

From the first efforts of hosting those ‘infamous’ orange bags in our office for the pod at Waves of Kindness in 2019, to securing a Containers for Change depot license for the Noosa electorate, through to a first for Queensland with a pod now in the Cooloola National Park, this journey of recycling has been  long, with many  who have worked to ensure we have facilities to accommodate this program.

Please see updates regarding at www.sandybolton.com/?s=containers+for+change.

Renewable Energy System Waste

We have continued to raise the lack of recycling of renewable energy products such as solar panels and wind turbines, and as outlined in Sandy’s speech on the Waste Reduction and Recycling Bill, this alongside other products  needs to be addressed.

Please see updates regarding this at www.sandybolton.com/?s=Waste+from+renewable+energy+projects.

Transitioning away from Single-Use Containers & Whole of Life Product Stewardship

In our submission to the Waste Strategy 2025-2030, we highlighted:

  • The importance of introducing strategies and legislation to encourage and empower consumers and companies to transition away from a reliance on single-use packaging and adopt sustainable alternatives, particularly for priority areas of water bottles, coffee cups, and takeaway food containers.
  • Potential strategies that could be pursued, which included greater incentives for businesses in the form of grants to join reusable schemes, covering the intial cost of switching to reusable systems, and ‘Bring Your Own’ (BYO) incentives and infrastructure to encourage consumers to use their own reusable containers, including discount schemes to provide financial incetives for consumers.
  • Recommendations to implement product stewardship strategies that require manufacturers and distributors to take responsibility for a product’s entire lifecycle from initial design and manufacturing, through to consumption and end-of-life management.
  • Product stewardship legislation being introduced as in other states, including in NSW which requires battery suppliers to enhance design, packaging, and storage to improve safety and recyclability, run education campaigns to improve awareness of risks and disposal option, and more. The waste and recycling industry estimates lithium-ion batteries cause roughly 10,000 fires in waste trucks annually due to improper disposal, use and poor design.
  • That Queensland should adopt similar initiatives to improve waste management for lithium-ion batteries and other products. An inquiry into Whole of Life Product Stewardship should also be undertaken by the Queensland Government to identify other products and strategies and facilitate industry and other stakeholder engagement in whole of life product stewardship.

We will assess the Waste Strategy 2025-26 once it is finalised as to whether the above recommendations were adopted and the effectiveness of the new strategy and will follow up accordingly with the relevant minister.

Food Waste

We have written to the Minister for Primary Industries asking what the government is currently undertaking to reduce agricultural waste, such as fruits and vegetables. This includes produce discarded due to not meeting retailer specific requirements.

Reducing food waste at all levels, from production to retail and consumption, remains a pressing need. We will provide an update to the community and reassess our advocacy once we receive a response from the minister on this matter.

Further information

Updates on many local matters are available on Noosa 360 at www.sandybolton.com/noosa360. To receive information straight to your email inbox, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter via www.sandybolton.com/newsletters. This also ensures you receive any future Noosa related surveys or polls.