Australia should take cue from the circular economy on recycling, reusing its waste rather than sending it to landfill says business advisory firm EY. A combined approach to waste which includes households, local councils and the private sector would lead to the start of a win-win circular economy and shifting to a more circular economy will grow the economy, increase jobs and reduce impacts on the environment.

Before 2017 Australia would send waste to China for processing, sending 6,19,000 tons of recycling waste to China every year. But then China decided to tighten the restrictions on accepting foreign waste. The new standards effectively banned all Australian paper, plastics and textiles because of their high contamination rate.

EY underlines the need for Australia to view waste as a valuable resource and for households to take a more diligent approach to sorting. As of now there is a lack of confidence currently among households with the country’s recycling methods. Consumers need to see waste as a tradable asset, a commodity with a market value and the first step in changing consumer behavior is restoring their belief that what they are putting in the recycling bin is actually being recycled. Restoring the customer’s faith in the broken recycling system would be the first step toward creating a viable circular economy and finding a solution to the recycling crisis in Australia.