National Reconstruction Fund: consultation paper

3 February 2023

National Reconstruction Fund: consultation paper
On behalf of the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR), we commend the Australian Government’s priority of job creation, future prosperity, and sustainable economic growth, supported by the National
Reconstruction Fund (NRF). The objective of the NRF closely aligns with ACOR’s own purpose to grow a thriving recycling sector and support a circular economy.
ACOR is the peak industry body for the resource recovery, recycling, and remanufacturing sector in
Australia. Our membership is represented across the recycling value chain, and includes leading organisations in advanced chemical recycling processes, CDS operations, kerbside recycling, recovered metal, glass, plastics, paper, textiles and e-product reprocessing and remanufacturing, road recycling and construction and demolition recovery. Our mission is to lead the transition to a circular economy through the recycling supply chain.
Recycling is an integral gear within the circular economy, delivering significant social, economic and environmental value. The Australian recycling industry contributes almost $19 billion in economic value, while delivering environmental benefits such as resource efficiency and diversion of material from landfill.
One job is supported for every 430 tonnes of material recycled in Australia. The industry operates across our homes, businesses, factories and construction sites. It collects, sorts and reprocesses material, and makes new products with recycled content, creating more jobs for Australians.
Policy drivers underpinning recycling and a circular economy
The policy environment for circular economy and recycling in Australia is rapidly evolving, with the implementation of climate change targets, National Waste Policy, the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, an export ban on recyclable materials and, most recently, a national commitment to a circular economy.
In October 2022, Australia’s Environment Ministers committed Australia to achieving a circular economy by
2030, by designing out waste and pollution, keeping materials in use longer and fostering end markets for recycled material. We are pleased to be represented on the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group, guiding Australia’s transition to a circular economy.
Every available lever will be needed to achieve this transformation – particularly in light of the fact that
Australia is currently falling short in progressing key targets in the National Waste Action Plan, which include:
• reducing the total waste generated in Australia by 10% per person by 2030
• achieving an 80% average recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030
• significantly increasing the use of recycled content by governments and industry
• halving the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030
The 2022 National Waste Report found recovery rates for household waste have stagnated while commercial and industrial waste recovery rates have declined.
Investment in advanced recycling technologies is also essential to address the Minister’s Priority List for product stewardship action, including photovoltaic systems, electrical and electronic products, clothing

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textiles and problematic and unnecessary single use plastics. Addressing organic waste will also be critical in reducing climate emissions towards net zero.
Recycling and clean energy has also been identified as a focus for research in the 2021 National Research
Infrastructure Roadmap. To meet future demand while pivoting to cleaner energy and fuel sources, we must leverage greater resource efficiency through recycling.
One impediment to informing strong policy and investment decisions is poor data and information: waste management and recycling are distinct activities, however, data has historically conflated these two sectors, so that the true capacity for recycling and re-manufacturing infrastructure in Australia is not well mapped. Logistics operators, aggregators, processors and remanufacturers are often defined as one group in datasets, masking genuine capacity and the value chain required to deliver recycling outcomes.
Investment in a circular economy
A local circular economy can bolster sovereign capabilities and reduce supply chain vulnerabilities. It will require a transformation of Australia’s economy with the creation of new industries, including new collection and recycling infrastructure and remanufacturing of recycled materials; noting that recycling comprises three essential processes: collection, processing and end markets. If any one element is missing, recycling cannot occur.
Since 2020, Australia has restricted the export of unprocessed recyclable materials including glass, tyres, plastic and (in 2024) paper. It is therefore imperative to ensure necessary infrastructure exists to transform these recovered resources into higher value commodities for domestic and international markets.
Barriers to private sector investment in recycling include the complex and fragmented regulatory environment across the country, the low cost of landfilling – which diverts material away from recycling – and the relatively low value of recovered material. Targeted funding is an important lever to enabling the significant scale required to address these barriers; noting that the regulatory framework must also be addressed. In particular, the Australian Government must prioritise a nationally harmonised regulatory framework for resource recovery and recycling.
And while a new era of productivity and innovation in recycling can be spurred by strong investment, there are also current barriers to strong market uptake of recycled material. This includes cost competitiveness with virgin materials and willingness within the supply chain to embrace change. The NRF must prioritise value chains that enable circular processes and uptake of recycled content.
NRF priority areas
Each of the seven NRF priority areas should accommodate a circular economy approach, including eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials at their highest value, and supporting the regeneration of nature.
As waste is generated by all forms of production, there is an opportunity to fund infrastructure that supports sustainable outcomes at every stage of product life cycles, including design and manufacture, all the way through to collection, sortation, decommissioning, reprocessing and remanufacturing.
In particular, the area of renewables and low emissions technologies has been identified as a Ministerial product stewardship priority. Infrastructure to recover and recycle these technologies at end-of-use must be scaled up.
Recycling infrastructure is squarely within the investment mandate for the NRF board, as it advances government policy priorities of sustainability and circularity, regional development, and the creation of secure, well-paid jobs. Our members bring considerable real-world resource recovery and recycling expertise through operating in every jurisdiction in Australia and internationally, and we would be very pleased to facilitate further dialogue and consultation.

Yours sincerely

Chief Executive Officer
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